The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) logged a monthly record of $43.264 billion in net foreign-exchange buying in August 2026, while its net forward dollar-sales position reached $200.055 billion.
The RBI’s October Bulletin groups the transactions in onshore and offshore over-the-counter markets, a category broader than spot deals alone. The net forward-sales position was $136.77 billion at July-end, before reaching the August figure.
The purchases coincided with a special USD-INR swap facility covering FCNR(B) deposits, overseas foreign currency borrowings and external commercial borrowings. By Aug. 31, authorized dealer banks had reported $136.377 billion mobilized through the facility. FCNR(B) deposits accounted for $127.226 billion, overseas foreign currency borrowings for $5.260 billion and external commercial borrowings for $3.891 billion. The RBI said it had yet to complete checks on the banks’ submissions, leaving the reported total provisional.
The government said its 2026 inflow drive had brought in $73 billion by Aug. 21, including $65.40 billion in FCNR(B) deposits. It cited the 2013 FCNR(B) program, which attracted about $26 billion over close to three months. The two totals use different cutoffs: the government’s release covered the drive through Aug. 21, while the bank reports ran through Aug. 31 and covered the swap facility.
The window for new FCNR(B) deposits closed after Aug. 31, although eligible deposits collected by then could still be swapped with the RBI through Sept. 11. The facility’s overseas borrowing components remained open through Dec. 31, 2026.
RBI weekly data put reserves at $740.803 billion on Aug. 28 and $785.706 billion on Sept. 4, an increase of $44.903 billion. That weekly comparison crosses month-end and ends after the deposit window closed, so it does not isolate the effect of August’s transactions.
