India’s foreign exchange reserves fell by USD 1.18 billion to USD 695.49 billion for the week ending July 18, marking the third straight week of decline, according to the official data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
In the previous reporting week, the country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by USD 3.06 billion to USD 696.67 billion. In the week ending July 18, foreign currency assets, the major constituent of the forex reserves, fell by USD 1.201 billion to USD 587.609 billion, possibly becoming the primary reason for the decline in the forex reserves.
The Gold reserves, another major component of the forex, again witnessed an impressive recovery from last week’s decline, increasing by USD 150 million to USD 84.499 billion, following the previous week’s fall of USD 498 million.
India’s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the global financial body, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), witnessed another dip of USD 119 million, reaching USD 18.683 billion. Central banks worldwide are increasingly accumulating safe-haven gold in their foreign exchange reserves kitty, and India is no exception. The share of gold maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its foreign exchange reserves has almost doubled since 2021, till recently.
In 2023, India added around USD 58 billion to its foreign exchange reserves, contrasting with a cumulative decline of USD 71 billion in 2022. In 2024, the reserves rose by a little over USD 20 billion, touching an all-time high of USD 704.885 billion at the end of September 2024.
India’s foreign exchange reserves (Forex) are sufficient to meet 11 months of the country’s imports and about 96 per cent of external debt, said Governor Sanjay Malhotra while announcing the outcome of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decisions.
Foreign exchange reserves, or FX reserves, are assets held by a nation’s central bank or monetary authority, primarily in reserve currencies such as the US Dollar, with smaller portions in the Euro, Japanese Yen, and Pound Sterling.
The RBI often intervenes by managing liquidity, including selling dollars, to prevent steep Rupee depreciation. The RBI strategically buys dollars when the Rupee is strong and sells when it weakens.
