The RBI’s net short position in maturities of up to one month rose to $16.5 billion in September, as against $5.9 billion in the previous month, according to central bank data. | Photo Credit: FRANCIS MASCARENHAS
The Reserve Bank of India’s net short forward position — the amount of dollars it has agreed to sell in the future at a predetermined price — rose by $6 billion to $59.4 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations based on the central bank data.
The RBI’s intervention isn’t limited to forwards — it has also been selling dollars in the onshore market to support the rupee, traders said Monday. The currency hit a record low of 88.8050 per dollar in September, weighed by punitive US tariffs, and remains Asia’s worst performer this year even as a gauge of the dollar eased, lifting most regional peers.
The rise in the forwards book “shows the RBI doesn’t want speculative positions to develop when nothing fundamentally has changed for the currency,” said Dhiraj Nim, currency strategist at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group in Mumbai. He expects the central bank to allow a “controlled, gradual depreciation” going forward.
Bloomberg News reported in early October that the RBI has ramped up its presence in offshore markets — a reversal after months of scaling back such activity.
The central bank’s actions signal it will allow some currency flexibility but will step in when needed to crush any speculative bets, traders said last month.
Meanwhile, Deputy Governor Poonam Gupta said last week that the RBI does not view a weak exchange rate as a policy tool to gain competitiveness amid global trade tensions.
The RBI’s net short position in maturities of up to one month rose to $16.5 billion in September, as against $5.9 billion in the previous month, according to central bank data. The rupee traded steady at 88.79 per dollar on Monday.
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Published on November 3, 2025
