India’s Forex Reserves Fall $18.3 Billion to $747.6 Billion in Week to 25 September

India’s forex reserves fell by $18.34 billion to $747.56 billion in the week ended 25 September 2026, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s weekly data released on Friday, 2 October. Business Standard, citing Bloomberg data, called it the biggest weekly fall on record. It was the third weekly decline in a row, after reserves touched $785.71 billion in the week ended 4 September.

Most of the drop came from foreign currency assets, which fell $15.57 billion, while gold reserves fell $2.59 billion. The fall came as the rupee weakened past 96 per dollar.

For Neha Kulkarni in Pune, whose son’s US university fees of $12,000 fall due in January, the question is what these numbers say about the rupee she will be buying dollars with.

Forex reserves on 25 September: the breakdown

The RBI’s Weekly Statistical Supplement extract of 2 October gives the figures below. The RBI marks the data as provisional.

Compared with a year earlier, total reserves are still $47.32 billion higher. Since the start of the financial year they are up $56.45 billion, even after September’s slide.

Three weeks of decline

Totals for the earlier weeks, from previous RBI weekly releases as reported by The Economic Times and Business Standard, show how quickly the fall built up. Each total matches the following week’s change in the RBI’s own figures.

That adds up to a fall of about $38.15 billion in three weeks, by our calculation from the RBI figures. Business Standard reported that the rupee fell 0.5% to 96.31 per dollar on Thursday, 1 October, while Brent crude crossed $100 a barrel and the US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 5.34%. It also reported that the RBI has been intervening in the spot and forward markets to contain volatility in the rupee.

Why do foreign currency assets fall?

Two things move this number. The first is the RBI selling dollars from its reserves to banks, which supports the rupee when demand for dollars is high. The second is valuation. As Business Standard noted, foreign currency assets are expressed in dollars and include the effect of moves in currencies such as the euro, pound and yen, so those holdings lose dollar value when the dollar strengthens. Gold reserves move with the international gold price in the same way, so part of the $2.59 billion gold fall reflects price, not sales.

The weekly table does not separate these two effects, and the RBI has not said how much of the $15.57 billion fall in foreign currency assets came from its own dollar sales. The RBI’s monthly Bulletin usually reports its net purchases and sales of foreign currency with a lag of about two months, so the split for September is likely to be clearer only around late November or December. Until then, reports of intervention, including Business Standard’s, rest on market sources and the pattern of the data rather than an official breakdown.

Does a $747 billion cushion matter for households?

Reserves are the RBI’s buffer for paying for imports and meeting foreign debt, and the money it can draw on to slow a sharp fall in the rupee. They do not set the exchange rate directly. For Neha, the rate she pays in January will depend on the rupee’s level then and her bank’s margin. At the 1 October close of 96.31, $12,000 costs ₹11,55,720 before charges; every one-rupee move in the exchange rate changes that by ₹12,000, by our calculation. Our dollar to rupee report explains how bank and forex card rates differ from the reference rate.

The RBI table also implies a conversion rate of about ₹95.84 per dollar, obtained by dividing the rupee value of total reserves (₹71,64,287 crore) by the dollar value. That is an implied figure from the table, not a quoted market rate.

Also in Friday’s RBI data

The same release showed bank deposits of ₹2,76,23,066 crore as of 15 September 2026, up 17.3% from a year earlier, and bank credit of ₹2,23,29,258 crore, up 18.1%. Credit growing faster than deposits is one of the things the Monetary Policy Committee weighs; our RBI policy preview covers the decision due on 7 October, and our explainer on what a rate hike does to a home loan EMI covers the borrower side.

Two dates come next. The MPC announces its decision on Wednesday, 7 October, and the RBI releases the next weekly forex reserves figures, for the week ended 2 October, on Friday, 9 October. A fourth straight fall would extend the run; a rise would suggest the pressure on the rupee eased in the last days of September. Neha does not need to act on either number, but they will shape the rupee she buys in January.

FAQs

Why did India’s forex reserves fall so sharply?

The RBI’s data show the fall was mostly in foreign currency assets. Business Standard attributed it to RBI intervention to support the rupee amid higher crude prices and US bond yields; valuation changes also play a part. The RBI has not published a split.

How often are forex reserves figures released?

Every Friday, in the RBI’s Weekly Statistical Supplement, with data as of the previous Friday. The RBI’s National Summary Data Page also carries the latest figure.

Is $747 billion a low level for India?

It is below the record of $785.71 billion set in early September and above the level of a year ago, by $47.32 billion. Whether it is adequate is usually judged against months of imports and short-term foreign debt, which the RBI reports separately.

Disclaimer: This article reports RBI data as of 3 October 2026. Figures are provisional and may be revised.