Forex Reserves Decline By $2.3 Billion To $700.2 Billion

India's forex reserves declined to $700.23 billion, after dropping $2.334 during the week ended Sept. 26, 2025, according to the (Reserve Bank of India) RBI data on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the kitty had dropped to $702.57 billion after decreasing $396 million.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, declined by $4.393 billion to $581.75 billion in the last week, the data released by the RBI showed.

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

The gold reserves increased by $2.238 billion to $95.017 billion during the week, RBI said. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by $90 million to USD 18.789 billion, the apex bank added.

India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was also down by $89 million to $4.673 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.

India ranks as the fourth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves, sufficient to cover nearly a year of imports. The country's forex holdings are the fourth largest, after China, Japan and Switzerland.

In its last Monetary Policy Committee meeting, which took place from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, the RBI kept repo rate unchanged at 5.5%, after front-loading the three rate cuts in February, April and June this year.

However, the RBI revised the CPI inflation forecast downward while revising the GDP growth forecast upward. Space for monetary action has opened up, Malhotra said, adding that the MPC considers it prudent to wait before beginning to cut rates further.

Amidst benign inflation, prevailing global uncertainties and tariff-related developments are likely to decelerate growth in H2:2025-26 and beyond, stated the resolution of the MPC. "The current macroeconomic conditions and the outlook have opened up policy space for further supporting growth," it stated.

(With PTI Inputs)