India’s foreign‑exchange reserves dropped by $1.269 billion to $719.748 billion during the week ended Oct. 23, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest weekly bulletin released on Friday, Oct. 30, as reported by Xinhua.
The RBI bulletin, a key instrument for informing the public about the currency position of the state, shows that the reserve decline extends the seventh consecutive week of falling figures. In the preceding week, the reserve fell by over $5 billion, a sharp contraction that exceeds the recent weekly slides.
Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs) – the portion of the reserve entered with foreign currencies – actually grew in the same reporting period, rising by $1.358 billion to $593.205 billion. The RBI notes this change as part of the bank’s ongoing asset rebalancing activities.
Conversely, the gold component of India’s reserves shrank by $2.65 billion, settling at $103.15 billion. The gold reserve decline mirrors the broader trend of diminished buffer assets at the RBI.
These movements are recorded in the RBI’s weekly comprehensive bulletin, which provides traders, policymakers and the public with real‑time updates on the country’s liquidity position.
India’s continuous weekly reserve declines have prompted a new wave of commentary from economists and market analysts, who stress that any sustained fall in reserve balances can influence the value of the rupee and the country’s capacity to meet external payments.
