New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) net purchased USD 7.409 billion from the spot currency market in February, according to the central bank's monthly bulletin released on Thursday.
On a gross basis, the central bank purchased USD 21.403 billion in February and sold USD 13.994 billion, as per the bulletin.
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This is the second consecutive month of net purchase of foreign currency by the central bank after registering net sales for seven consecutive months before that. In January, the central bank bought USD 2.526 billion, according to the RBI's monthly bulletin data.
Data further showed that the central bank net sold USD 10.02 billion in December, USD 9.710 billion in November, USD 11.877 billion in October, USD 7.910 billion in September, USD 7.695 billion in August, USD 2.540 billion in July, and USD 3.661 billion in June.
The rupee appreciated from early February 2026 on the announcement of the interim India-US trade deal agreement, but depreciated in March as the conflict in West Asia intensified. While implied option volatility, on average, moderated in H2 compared to H1, it remained high in the face of ongoing risk-off sentiments and rising geopolitical tensions in West Asia, RBI said in the bulletin.
To ensure orderly conditions in the foreign exchange market, the central bank introduced a prudential measure on March 27, 2026, that limited the net open position in INR (NOP-INR) of authorised dealers in the onshore deliverable market to within USD 100 million at the end of each business day. The move was aimed at curbing excessive speculative positioning and mitigating systemic risks, the central bank added.
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Overall, the rupee depreciated by 6.2 per cent against the US dollar in H2 FY26.
In terms of the 40-currency real effective exchange rate (REER), the rupee depreciated by 3.3 per cent between September 2025 and February 2026, driven by depreciation of the currency in nominal effective terms, RBI said.
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