After sustained intervention by the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) to support the rupee during a period of heightened volatility triggered by the Middle East conflict, the central bank's net short forward position in the foreign exchange market widened to a record $106.6 billion in May, up from $95 billion in April, ET reported. The rupee had slipped to a record low of 96.96 against the US dollar on May 20. According to market participants, repeated RBI intervention prevented the currency from breaching the psychologically important 97-per-dollar mark.