The Reserve Bank of India net purchased $1.7 billion in the foreign exchange spot market in May, likely to prevent excess appreciation in the rupees exchange rate. The RBI purchased $9.1 billion, while sold $7.3 billion in the spot market, the latest RBI bulletin shows.

The rupee had rose to a six month high in mid May, LSEG data showed, but shed its gains due to tariff uncertainties and India-Pakistan war. Intervention by the RBI too prevented excess appreciation during May, traders said. The rupee closed at 85.57 per dollar in May, declining 1% during the month, LSEG data showed. REER (real effective exchange rate) stood at 100 in June, and 101 in May. REER is a measure of the value of a currency against a weighted average of 40 foreign currencies.