India’s forex reserves fall $5 billion to $721.02 billion as of October 16

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The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now. Read Today's Paper India’s forex reserves fall $5 billion to $721.02 billion as of October 16ET OnlineLast Updated: Oct 23, 2026, 05:36:00 PM ISTSynopsis

India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $5 billion to reach $721.02 billion for the week ending October 16. Previously, reserves declined by $8.578 billion to an amount of $726.027 billion. The decline in reserves reflects ongoing economic conditions impacting forex stability within the country. This trend indicates a continued volatility in India's foreign exchange market and its implications for the economy.

India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $5 billion to $721.02 billion in the week ended October 16, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday. For the previous week, India's forex reserves declined by $8.578 billion to $726.027 billion.

The reserves touched an all-time high of $785.706 billion for the week ended September 4, driven by heavy greenback inflow as part of a special concessional swap for deposits from the diaspora through which banks raised a record nearly $133 billion but have been on a declining trend ever since.

Experts attribute the sharp decline in the kitty to deployment of FCNR(B) resources and currency defence put up by the RBI through dollar sales.

For the week ended October 16, foreign currency assets, a major component of reserves, decreased by $5.758 billion to $591.847 billion, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units, such as the euro, pound, and yen, held in foreign exchange reserves.

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The value of gold reserves rose $706 million to $105.8 billion during the week, the central bank said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by $30 million to $18.578 billion, it added.

India's reserve position with the IMF increased by $11 million to $4.791 billion.
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