India's foreign exchange reserves declined by $2.691 billion to $717.056 billion during the week ended October 30, marking a second consecutive weekly fall, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.
The decline was primarily driven by a reduction in foreign currency assets and gold reserves, the two largest components of the country's foreign exchange holdings.
In the preceding week ended October 23, the reserves had fallen by $1.269 billion to $719.748 billion.
The latest figures showed that the country's foreign exchange reserves remained above their levels at the end of March 2026 and the corresponding period last year, despite the recent contraction.
๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ
Foreign currency assets, which account for the largest share of India's foreign exchange reserves, decreased by $2.088 billion to $591.118 billion during the reporting week.
These assets are expressed in US dollar terms and include the effects of appreciation or depreciation of other major currencies, including the euro, pound sterling and Japanese yen, held in the country's reserves.
The valuation of foreign currency assets can therefore change because of movements in international currency markets, apart from transactions undertaken by the central bank.
Gold reserves also registered a decline, falling by $559 million to $102.591 billion.
The combined reduction in foreign currency assets and gold holdings accounted for most of the overall weekly contraction.
๐ฆ๐๐ฅ ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐น๐น
The RBI data showed that India's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) decreased by $47 million to $18.558 billion during the week.
SDRs are international reserve assets created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to supplement the official reserves of member countries.
However, India's reserve position with the IMF increased marginally by $3 million to $4.790 billion.
In rupee terms, the country's total foreign exchange reserves stood at Rs 68.09 lakh crore as of October 30, representing a decline of Rs 24,777 crore from the preceding week.
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐
Despite the latest weekly decline, India's foreign exchange reserves remained $25.949 billion higher than their level at the end of March 2026.
In rupee terms, the increase since the end of the previous financial year stood at approximately Rs 2.55 lakh crore.
On a year-on-year basis, the country's reserves registered an increase of $27.324 billion, equivalent to approximately Rs 6.86 lakh crore.
Foreign currency assets accounted for most of the annual increase, rising by $26.527 billion compared with the corresponding period last year.
Gold reserves increased by $865 million over the same period, while SDR holdings declined by $87 million.
India's reserve position with the IMF recorded an annual increase of $18 million.
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ
India's foreign exchange reserves had touched a record high of $785.706 billion during the week ended September 4, supported by substantial foreign currency inflows under a special concessional swap arrangement involving deposits from overseas Indians.
Banks raised approximately $133 billion through the arrangement, contributing to the expansion of the country's reserve holdings.
Since then, the reserves have declined, with market experts attributing the movement partly to the deployment of foreign currency non-resident bank deposit resources and the RBI's intervention in currency markets.
Such interventions may involve the central bank selling dollars to manage volatility in the rupee's exchange rate.
The RBI's foreign exchange reserves serve as an important financial buffer, helping the country meet external payment obligations and manage disruptions arising from international financial and currency market movements.
The latest data indicated that while reserves had contracted from their September peak, the overall stock remained higher than both its end-March and year-earlier levels.