RBI sells $2.2 billion in forex market in April-June quarter

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank sold over $2.2 billion from its foreign exchange reserves during the April- June quarter to arrest the continuous slide of rupee.

Of this the central bank sold the maximum quantity of dollars in May at $1.26 billion, followed by $700 million in June. It had sold $275 million in April.

The Indian rupee had touched a historic low of 57.32 on June 22. Overall it has declined over nine per cent in the April-June quarter.

The central bank also purchased $778 million dollars in May and $650 in June, RBI data said.

It further said in the forward dollar market, the RBI's outstanding sales of the US currency increased to $14.08 billion in June, from $10.31 billion in the previous month.

The sale of dollars by the RBI is indicative of its intervention in the forex market in the first quarter of the fiscal to arrest the slide of rupee.

The domestic currency has been depreciating for the past few months due to various reasons including capital outflow.

The rupee today ended almost flat at 55.28 against the dollar over yesterday's close.