India's Foreign Exchange Reserves Drop by $14.88 Billion, Biggest Fall in Nearly Two Years

New Delhi: India’s foreign exchange reserves have dropped by $14.88 billion, the most in almost two years, reported Bloomberg.

As per latest data compiled by the publication, the foreign exchange reserves fell by $14.88 billion to $765.9 billion in the week of September 18, which was the biggest fall since the week of November 15, 2024.

The drop in foreign exchange reserves comes amid the dollar selling spree of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to support the rupee, which is the worst performing currencies in Asia this year.

The rupee is Asia’s worst-performing currency and had been declining well before the US-Israel war on Iran, which has further led to its downfall.

Experts have warned that the rupee could further weaken to 100 per US dollar or beyond if the ongoing crisis in West Asia persists.

The Bloomberg report added that while the RBI has taken steps to attract dollars and also came up with a special deposit programme for overseas citizens, which generated $143.6 billion, these measures have had little effect on the rupee.

The RBI has also conducted sell-buy swaps in the foreign-exchange market to drain cash from banks earlier this month, which also weigh on reserves.

Earlier, in May this year, India’s foreign exchange reserves had fallen to its lowest in more than one year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made controversial public appeals to conserve forex by cutting down on foreign travel, limiting fuel use and refraining from gold buys for a year.

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