NEW DELHI — According to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued on Friday, India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves fell by $2.334 billion to $700.23 billion for the week that ended on September 26, 2025. This is part of a trend that has been going on for some time. The country’s foreign exchange reserves had dropped by $396 million to $702.57 billion in the week before this one.
The biggest part of the reserves caused the drop:
Foreign Currency Assets (FCA): The FCA dropped sharply by $4.393 billion, ending the week at $581.75 billion. When you talk about these assets in dollars, you can see how the value of non-US units like the euro, pound, and yen that are held in the reserves goes up or down.
Gold Reserves Go Up, Policy Focus Changes
The country’s gold holdings went up a lot, which helped make up for the entire drop:
Gold Reserves: The value of gold reserves went up by a huge $2.238 billion to $95.017 billion over the week.
Special Drawing Rights (SDRs): The SDRs fell by $90 million to $18.789 billion.
IMF Reserve Position: India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has went down by $89 million, to $4.673 billion.
India is still a big holder of foreign reserves, coming in fourth in the world, behind only China, Japan, and Switzerland. It is thought that the current amount is enough to cover almost a year of imports.
Position on Monetary Policy
The most recent data on reserves comes after the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) met from September 29 to October 1. The MPC decided to retain the repo rate at 5.5%, the same as it was before, after making three cuts to the rate in February, April, and June of this year.
The MPC changed its forecasts for CPI inflation and GDP growth. It lowered the CPI inflation projection and raised the GDP growth forecast. The MPC said that although “space for monetary action has opened up,” it was “prudent to wait” before making any rate decreases.
The MPC also said that even while inflation is “benign,” global uncertainties and changes in tariffs are likely to slow down GDP in the second half of the 2025–26 fiscal year and beyond. In the end, the committee decided that “the current macroeconomic conditions and the outlook have opened up policy space for further supporting growth.”