RBI sold $14.9 billion in forex during Jan-May 2026 to curb rupee volatility; wilful defaulters owe banks ₹2.85 lakh crore

The RBI's foreign exchange intervention during January-May 2026 amounted to a net sale of $14.9 billion to check excess volatility of the rupee, Parliament was informed on Monday.

The value of the Indian Rupee (INR) is market-determined, with no target or specific level or band, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

"The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regularly monitors the foreign exchange market and intervenes in situations of excess volatility. As per the latest data available from the RBI, the RBI's foreign exchange intervention during January-May 2026 amounted to a net sale of $14.9 billion," he said.

Movements in the Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER) occur on account of multiple factors, including purchase and sale of foreign exchange by the RBI, income arising out of the deployment of the FER, external aid receipts of the central government and changes on account of revaluation of the assets, he said.

The RBI has undertaken several measures to boost forex inflows, including a concessional swap facility for Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) or FCNR(B) deposits, External Commercial Borrowings (ECB), and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCB), which were announced on June 5, 2026.

Replying to another question, Chaudhary said recovery in written-off loans is an ongoing process, and banks continue pursuing recovery actions initiated against borrowers under the various recovery mechanisms available to them.

The amount recovered from written-off loans during a particular financial year may pertain to loans written off during that year or previous financial years, he said.

As per inputs received from Public Sector Banks (PSBs), the outstanding amount owed by wilful defaulters of ₹25 lakh and above as on June 30, 2026 stood at ₹2,85,015 crore against 15,930 wilful defaulters, he said.

Out of the total number of wilful defaulters, 7,190 cases involving defaults worth ₹1,92,187 crore have been referred for criminal action, he added.

As on June 30, 2026, 147 projects had been funded under the SWAMIH Fund, under which 67,626 housing units had been handed over to homebuyers, benefiting around 2.7 lakh people, Chaudhary said in a separate reply.

In another reply, Chaudhary said the number of defaults in gold loans has declined over the last five years.

The Gross Non-Performing Asset (GNPA) ratio for banks' gold loans declined from 0.19% as on March 31, 2023 to 0.12% as on March 31, 2026.

Similarly, the GNPA ratio for gold loans of NBFCs declined from 2.32% to 0.81% during the same period.

Replying to another question, Chaudhary said the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) is a demand-driven scheme under which timely and affordable credit is provided through the banking system to eligible farmers engaged in agriculture and allied activities to meet their working capital and investment credit requirements.

The credit limit under KCC is determined based on the scale of finance, area under cultivation, cropping pattern and related requirements.

As reported by the RBI and NABARD, the total number of operative KCC accounts stood at 7.28 crore as on March 31, 2026, with outstanding credit of ₹10.08 lakh crore.