India's foreign exchange reserves fall to $721.0bn in the week to 16 October
India's foreign exchange reserves fell $5.0bn to $721.0bn in the week to 16 October. That is about $65bn below their 4 September peak, as defending the rupee kept costing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reserves.
A data update from FactIQ, written from Reserve Bank of India figures. What is FactIQ?
Key figures
- India total foreign exchange reserves, week to 16 October
- $721.0bndown $5.0bn on the week and about $65bn below the 4 September peak of $785.7bn2025-11-212026-10-16Total Foreign Exchange Reserves in Millions of US Dollars
- Rupee reference rate per US dollar, 23 October
- 94.94weakest recent level 96.77 on 8 October; 94.70 the day before2026-08-132026-10-23Daily exchange rate of the Indian Rupee against the United States Dollar
- Reserve Bank of India net short dollar position across all forward maturities, August
- -$200.1bnfrom -$136.8bn in July
- Weighted average overnight call money lending rate, 19–21 October
- 5.65%against roughly 4.97% in early September2026-08-182026-10-21Daily Weighted Average Interest Rate for Call-Notice Money Market Lending
Reserves have fallen about $65bn since early September
Foreign exchange reserves are the foreign currency, gold and other assets that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) holds. They back its ability to support the rupee. Reserves peaked at $785.7bn on 4 September and stood at $721.0bn in the week to 16 October. Most of the drop came from foreign currency assets. These fell from $648.2bn to $591.8bn over the same period.The rupee is stronger than its recent low but slipped on 23 October
The RBI's reference rate for the rupee was 94.94 per US dollar (USD) on 23 October. That is well above its weakest recent level of 96.77 on 8 October. It is slightly weaker than the 94.70 recorded the day before.The RBI's forward dollar commitments grew sharply in August
The RBI's monthly foreign exchange data show it bought $74.5bn in August, up from $38.4bn in July. Its net short dollar position covers dollars it has agreed to deliver in the future, net of dollars due to it. Across all forward maturities, this position widened to -$200.1bn in August from -$136.8bn in July.Money market rates have risen since the October rate rise
The weighted average call money lending rate is the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans. It was around 5.65% on 19–21 October, against roughly 4.97% in early September. Broad money (M3), a wide measure of the money supply, eased to ₹333.0trn (trillion rupees) on 15 October from ₹337.7trn on 30 September. Bank credit to the commercial sector slipped to ₹236.0trn. In revised trade data, April oil exports were cut from $9.73bn to $8.56bn.Source: Reserve Bank of India. See all RBI data in FactIQ.
About FactIQ and these updates
- What FactIQ is. FactIQ is a database of official statistics from government agencies, central banks and international organisations in the US, China, India, Europe and elsewhere. AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT connect to it to look up the exact figures and cite the agency that published them. It also holds what companies report in their filings and say on their earnings calls.
- How an update is made. When Reserve Bank of India publishes new figures, FactIQ loads them and an AI model writes a short summary of what changed. Before it is published, code checks that every number in the summary matches FactIQ's record of the release, and a second review checks that nothing is overstated. Values that look like errors in the source data are left out.
- Where the numbers come from. Each key figure links to the full series, with its source, units and history.