BREAKING: RBI Sells Dollars Again to Hold Rupee Near ₹95.23 After Record Low of ₹96.96

The Reserve Bank of India is selling dollars again. On August 10, 2026, state-run banks were spotted offering dollars in the forex market.

The Cost of Defending the Rupee Is Rising Fast

The classic signal of RBI rupee intervention, holding USD/INR near ₹95.23 after the currency touched a record low of ₹96.96 in May 2026.

According to market reports reviewed by the Economic Times and Reuters, the central bank has kept the rupee above ₹95.50 since July, blunting pressure from a firmer dollar and climbing global crude prices.

The rupee has shed roughly 40% of its value against the dollar since 2013. Defending that slide is expensive.

Bankers estimated the RBI sold between $7 billion and $9 billion in a single day in late July 2026, one of the largest single-day RBI rupee intervention moves in recent memory.

The move combined spot sales with forward and NDF (non-deliverable forward) market activity. Bloomberg and Hindu Business Line reported the figures on July 30, 2026.

India’s forex reserves sat near $692–693 billion as of the latest weekly data, still substantial but well below the $728 billion peak earlier in the year.

Traders now treat the ₹95.00–₹95.50 band as a defended zone.

Three forces are piling on the rupee simultaneously: elevated global oil prices (India imports the bulk of its crude), persistent foreign investor outflows, and speculative NDF positioning offshore.

A major external driver is Trump’s shifting trade posture toward India. In late July 2026, the administration imposed a fresh 10% tariff on Indian goods under Section 301, tied to forced-labor concerns.

That came after an earlier February 2026 framework deal had brought rates down to around 18% from a high of 50%.

The deal requires India to commit to buying roughly $500 billion in U.S. goods and to phase down Russian crude purchases.

That tariff uncertainty continues to weigh on foreign portfolio flows into India, putting sustained downward pressure on the rupee.

What This Means for Indian Crypto Investors

The same central bank spending billions on RBI rupee intervention is also pushing for a crypto ban on the 39 million Indian investors who already hold roughly $2.1 billion in digital assets.

As CoinGape reported, RBI’s Hard Line on Crypto and the 39 Million Traders It Ignores reveals the central bank’s policy leans toward prohibition.

Also, Deputy Governor Rohit Jain has urged Parliament to keep digital tokens out of the payments system entirely.

Sustained RBI rupee intervention tightens domestic liquidity, which can crimp retail participation in volatile assets. And yet, each wave of rupee weakness historically drives fresh interest in dollar-denominated digital assets.

India already levies a flat 30% tax plus 1% TDS on every crypto trade, pushing investors offshore, the very enforcement gap authorities keep citing.

A central bank burning reserves to prop up the rupee while simultaneously pushing to ban private crypto creates a contradictory signal. Watch weekly reserve data, FII flow reports, and India’s parliamentary monsoon session for any escalation on either front.

Trump’s declaration earlier in 2026 that the interim U.S.–Iran accord was “over” triggered sharp spikes in global crude.

Because India is a heavy oil importer, higher crude worsens the trade deficit directly, raising dollar demand and forcing the RBI back into the forex market.

Three pressures now compound each other: tariff volatility, oil-price swings from Trump’s Middle East stance, and a broadly stronger U.S. dollar keeping foreign investors cautious.

Sharpen your market analysis with our list of the best crypto research tools.