Representative image: Forex reserves
| Photo Credit:
Baris-Ozer
India’s foreign exchange reserves (Forex) declined by $4.4 billion in the week that ended August 22 to $690.720 billion, driven largely by slump in foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its latest ‘Weekly Statistical Supplement’.
For the reported week, India’s foreign currency assets (FCA), the largest component of foreign exchange reserves, stood at $582.251 billion, down by $3.652 billion.
The RBI data showed that the gold reserves currently amount to $85.003 billion, witnessing a decline of $665 million. After the latest monetary policy review meeting, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the foreign exchange kitty was sufficient to meet 11 months of the country’s imports. In 2023, India added around $58 billion to its foreign exchange reserves, contrasting with a cumulative decline of $71 billion in 2022.
In 2024, the reserves rose by a little over $20 billion. So far in 2025, the forex kitty has cumulatively jumped by about $53 billion, data showed.
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.
Published on August 31, 2025
