RBI keeps a round-the-clock eye on dollar inflow; Ultimatum to banks to give data by 6 pm every day

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a new and strict order for the banking sector of the country. The central bank has asked all commercial banks to share on a daily basis all the data related to foreign currency non-resident bank-account i.e. FCNR (B) deposits as well as external commercial borrowings (ECB) and borrowings in foreign currency (OFCB) raised under the special concessional scheme. After this step of the banking regulator, market experts believe that RBI can make these data public at regular intervals, especially every week, so that transparency is maintained in the market. New rule implemented from today, report will have to be submitted by 6 pm According to the instructions issued by RBI, all commercial banks will have to compulsorily submit accurate data of FCNR (B) deposits, ECB and OFCB to the Financial Market Operations Department (FOMD) by 6 pm every day from today i.e. Monday, June 22, 2026. The main objective of this step is to do real-time monitoring of foreign funds coming into the country. RBI itself will bear the cost of hedging to bring dollars. FCNR (B) deposits deposited between June 8 and September 30, 2026 this year will come under the ambit of the special swap facility of RBI. The central bank has made a big gamble to lure investors—it will bear the entire cost of hedging on deposits that meet certain criteria. In simple words, hedging acts as ‘insurance’ for investments, which completely eliminates or balances the risk of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Giving his opinion on this, a senior official of a government bank said:

"By keeping a close eye on the foreign funds coming into the country through FCNR (B), RBI wants to see whether its policy decisions are bringing foreign currency into the country as expected or not. The central bank wants to ensure that the target set is transformed into reality."

Nomura’s big claim: A record $55 billion could come this time! According to a recent report by global brokerage firm Nomura, a huge increase of 70 percent has been recorded in the population of people of Indian origin (NRIs) living abroad as compared to the year 2013. The report says that the confidence of NRIs towards India is always strong, due to which they are ready to invest in India even at low ‘country risk premium’. Nomura estimates that through this FCNR (B) special scheme of the year 2026, there can be a huge inflow of about $ 55 billion in the Indian economy. A large part of this fund is expected to arrive in the months of August and September. The note also said that even though the dollar is quite expensive today compared to 2013, the plan for 2026 is offering better returns and great investment opportunities to global investors. Bigger challenge this time compared to 2013, RBI will extend the deadline. This is not the first time that RBI has come up with such a scheme to increase the inflow of dollars. Earlier in the year 2013 (September 4 to November 30), when a similar scheme was introduced, 26 billion dollars had come into the country through it. However, during that period RBI had made the data public only four times. But this time the story is different. This year (2026) the duration of this scheme is about 4 months, which is much more than 2013. The treasury head of a private bank said that this time the scale and target of raising funds is much bigger than in 2013, hence there is a need for more frequent reporting and transparency to keep the market sentiment strong. This aggressive stance of the RBI, trying to bridge the huge decline of last year, is also very important because an unexpected decline in the inflow of FCNR (B) was seen during the financial year 2025-26. While $ 7.08 billion came to India in the last financial year, in 2025-26 this figure was reduced to just $ 946 million. However, the total outstanding FCNR(B) deposits with India as of March 31, 2026 were recorded at $33.8 billion. Market experts say that regular release of data will help investors and the forex market to get an accurate idea of ​​the ground impact of this masterstroke by RBI.