Driven by a gold-holding spree by the Central bank, India’s foreign exchange reserves grew by $4.368 billion to $693.318 billion, according to data of the Reserve Bank of India for the week ended December
19.
The RBI’s gold reserves increased by $2.623 billion to $110.365 billion during the week. The global level of uncertainty and strong demand led to a record-breaking appreciation of gold in 2025.
The foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the reserves, stood at $559.428 billion, showing a marginal dip during the week, according to the RBI’s Weekly Statistical Supplement. These assets reflect valuation changes due to movements in non-US currencies such as the euro, pound, and yen.
Earlier, RBI told that India’s forex reserves were enough to cover more than 11 months of merchandise imports. This reflects the country’s resilience to bear the external shocks for almost a year. The central bank also noted that India remains well-positioned to meet its external financing needs.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rebounded strongly after a sharp fall in 2022. After declining by USD 71 billion in 2022, the forex stock rose by about USD 58 billion in 2023. The pace of accumulation slowed in 2024, with reserves increasing by a little over USD 20 billion. So far in 2025, however, the forex kitty has again picked up, expanding by an estimated USD 47–48 billion.
