The Reserve Bank of India has brought forward the eligibility cutoff for one part of a special foreign-exchange facility created to attract foreign-currency inflows.
Under the RBI’s 14 August 2026 announcement, only eligible FCNR(B) deposits mobilised through 31 August 2026 can be included in the special USD-INR swap facility. Banks will have until 11 September 2026 to complete the corresponding swaps with the central bank.
The change applies specifically to the FCNR(B) part of the programme. Separate facilities covering external commercial borrowings and overseas foreign-currency borrowings remain open through 31 December 2026.
What the RBI changed
The RBI introduced the special swap facility on 8 June 2026. It covers eligible foreign-currency inflows through three channels: FCNR(B) deposits, external commercial borrowings, commonly called ECBs, and overseas foreign-currency borrowings, or OFCBs.
For FCNR(B), the RBI has now advanced the date by which a qualifying deposit must be mobilised. The revised cutoff is 31 August 2026.
This is a deadline for eligibility under the special swap facility. It is not an announcement that FCNR(B) deposits will stop existing as a banking product after that date.
The central bank said it made the change after an encouraging response to the facility and the resulting foreign-exchange inflows.
What FCNR(B) means
FCNR(B) stands for Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank). These are term deposits held with Indian banks by eligible overseas Indians in designated foreign currencies.
Unlike a regular rupee deposit, the account is denominated in a foreign currency. For deposits covered by this RBI facility, the eligible original maturity runs from three to five years, according to Indian Express reporting on the scheme’s operation.
When banks receive qualifying foreign-currency funds, the special facility gives them a defined window to conduct a USD-INR swap with the RBI. A foreign-exchange swap involves exchanging currencies now and reversing that exchange at a later date under agreed terms.
The programme concerns how eligible banks handle the currency side of these inflows. It does not set the product terms that an individual depositor may receive from a bank.
The three facilities drew $56.846 billion
The RBI reported that the three channels had attracted a combined $56.846 billion through 13 August 2026.
The total consisted of:
- $52.3 billion through FCNR(B) deposits
- $2.805 billion through overseas foreign-currency borrowings
- $1.741 billion through external commercial borrowings
FCNR(B) therefore accounted for most of the reported amount, although the RBI’s overall figure combines all three channels.
The central bank’s figures also show how quickly the programme expanded after its June introduction. Reporting published on 1 August had already documented a sharp increase in inflows before the RBI released its updated total through 13 August.
These are programme-level figures reported by the RBI. They should not be read as a forecast for the rupee, interest rates or future deposit demand.
Why 31 August and 11 September are different
The RBI announcement contains two dates because deposit mobilisation and completion of the swap are separate steps.
A qualifying FCNR(B) deposit must be mobilised by 31 August 2026. In practical terms, that is the eligibility cutoff for the deposit under this facility.
Banks then have until 11 September 2026 to conduct the related swap with the RBI. The later operational date gives banks time to complete the swap process, but it does not extend the deposit eligibility window beyond 31 August.
Keeping these dates separate matters. Treating 11 September as the deadline for mobilising new eligible deposits would misstate the RBI’s decision.
What remains unchanged
The revised FCNR(B) cutoff does not change the 31 December 2026 closing date for the ECB and OFCB portions of the programme.
It also does not mean that every foreign-currency deposit or borrowing automatically qualifies. The relevant scheme conditions still apply.
Most importantly for general readers, 31 August is not presented as a universal deadline for holding or opening any FCNR(B) deposit. It determines whether a deposit can be included in this particular RBI swap facility.
The useful takeaway
The decision shows the RBI adjusting one part of a special foreign-exchange programme after substantial inflows arrived in a relatively short period.
For readers, the important distinction is between an FCNR(B) deposit as a banking product and that deposit’s eligibility for the RBI’s special swap window. The new date governs the second issue.
The announcement is a policy and banking-operation update. It is not personal investment guidance, a comparison of deposit offerings or evidence that the deadline change caused a particular movement in the rupee.
