India's forex reserves drop $2.92 billion to $652.89 billion; how it compares with world's big economies

After weeks of rise, India's foreign exchange reserves declined by $2.92 billion in the seven-day period ended June 14, as per the data shared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

In comparison, the forex kitty had jumped $4.307 billion in the preceding week, taking India's forex reserves to another all-time high of $655.81 billion.

The decline in the week ended June 14 lowered the forex reserves to $652.89 billion. Here's a look at how it compares with some of the major economies:

• The forex reserves held by the United States stood at $242.68 billion as of March 15, as per the last official data shared.
• China's forex reserves totalled $3,225.81 billion as of April 1.
• Russia's forex reserves stood at $596.2 billion as of June 14.
• Germany's forex reserves totalled $339 billion as of March 31.
• The United Kingdom's forex reserves stood at $183.95 billion as of March 5.

Foreign currency assets decline

India's foreign currency assets, which are a major component of the forex reserves, declined by $2.09 billion to $574.24 billion in the week ended June 14, the RBI data showed.

Foreign currency assets refer to the non-US currencies like the euro, pound and yen in the RBI's kitty, whose value is expressed in dollar terms.

Meanwhile, the central bank's gold reserves dropped by $1.01 billion to $55.96 billion during the week. The decline marks a departure from the gold-buying spree shown by the RBI since the start of this year. In 2024 alone, the RBI has added 25 tonnes of gold to its reserves, taking the overall metal holding to 822 tonne as of April 30.

The RBI data also showed that Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) dropped by $54 million to $18.1 billion during the week.

However, India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) climbed $245 million to $4.58 billion during the same period.