They know, we don't.

"The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) added 5 tons of gold to its reserves in March." "In India RBI's gold holdings rose to a record high of 822.1 tons by the start of April representing an 18.5 tons net acquisition since the beginning of the year." "Gold has long been considered a safe haven asset, particularly during times of market volatility and inflationary pressures." "Five decades ago..., US President Richard Nixon informed the world that the US would no longer honor its commitment to exchange US dollars for gold on demand." "Five years after Nixon's decision, IMF member states agreed to end gold's monetary role and, in effect, to move to a market based system of floating exchange rates." The Conversation. As of 11 April, the US had the largest gold reserves in the world with 8,133.46 tonnes of gold, China was sixth with 2,235.39 tonnes and India was ninth with 803.58 tonnes. Forbes. Since 11 April the RBI has added almost 19 tonnes. "The interest rate differential between domestic and US has shrunk to its lowest levels in at least 17 years, an occurrence that textbook theory says should drive foreign capital out of India." "If anything, an improvement in India's domestic and external fundamentals, along with events like the inclusion of domestic debt in global bond indices, has prompted foreign investors to pour funds here." ET.  "Fidelity International notes that the Indian central bank's control over the rupee enhances its attractiveness for carry trades." "Despite reaching a record low in April, the Indian rupee has maintained its position as the best performing Asian currency this year, experiencing a marginal 0.2% decline against the dollar." IBEF. Carry trade is a strategy in which you borrow in a currency with a low interest rate and invest in one with a higher rate. Investopedia. It is highly risky in that a sharp fall in the exchange value of the higher-rate currency will result in large losses. However, with the RBI supporting the rupee, foreign investors feel reassured. With so much foreign exchange coming through foreign investment and carry trade, "India foreign exchange reserves went up by $2.98 billion during the week ended April 5 to scale a new all-time high of $648.562 billion." ET. Since then, "India's forex reserves declined by $2.41 billion to $637.92 billion as of April 26" as the RBI sold dollars to stop a sharp decline in the rupee's exchange rate. ET. In its meeting on 5 April, the Monetary Policy Committee of the RBI held its policy rate at 6.5% for the seventh time, "As the path for disinflation needs to be sustained till inflation reaches the 4% target on a durable basis," said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. ET. Also, "The Centre will buy back securities worth Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion), the RBI said in a release." BT. This is Quantitative easing in which the central bank buys back government bonds to inject liquidity into the market and drive down lending rates. Forbes. It is done when interest rates are already at near zero percent and cannot be lowered any further. But the RBI's interest rate is relatively high at 6.5% so why not cut that first? Perhaps because the RBI is afraid of a precipitous fall in the value of the rupee. Why, when the economy is predicted to grow by 7.5% in 2024 by the World Bank (Mint), the consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate fell to 4.85% in March (pib.gov.in), giving a real interest rate of 1.8%, and forex reserves are at almost record levels? Maybe, the figures are not strictly kosher. The government knows, the RBI knows and foreigners know. Only we don't. As usual, we are the suckers.