RBI remains net seller of US dollar in Oct; sells USD 7.2 billion

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continued to remain net seller of the US dollar in October, as it sold USD 7.204 billion of the greenback in the spot market, RBI data showed. In the reporting month, the central bank purchased USD 945 million, while sold USD 8.149 billion in the spot market, according to the data.

In September 2018, the RBI sold USD 31 million of the US currency in the spot market on a net basis, after it bought USD 1.012 billion, while selling USD 1.043 billion. In October 2017, the apex bank was net buyer of US currency, after it had bought USD 1.910 billion, while sold USD 1.058 billion in the spot market.

RBI maintains that its intervention in the foreign exchange market is to curb volatility in the rupee and not to target a level of the domestic currency.

In FY18, the apex bank had net purchased USD 33.689 billion of US dollars from the spot market. It had bought USD 52.068 billion, while sold USD 18.379 billion. In FY17, the RBI had bought USD 12.351 billion of the US dollar on a net basis.

In the forward dollar market, the outstanding net forward sales at the end of October 2018 was USD 2.888 billion, compared with USD 1.358 billion in September, according to the RBI data.