Archive · 29 Aug 2026
India’s Forex Reserves Reach Record $729.3 Billion After Surge
India keeps foreign money and other assets as a financial safety cushion.
This cushion is called foreign exchange reserves.
During the week ending August 21, the cushion grew by $12.422 billion.
It reached a record $729.328 billion.
Most of the increase came from foreign currency assets.
The value of India’s gold reserves also went up.
Smaller increases came from special drawing rights and India’s reserve position with the IMF.
Earlier, geopolitical tensions had caused reserves to fall for several weeks.
Government and central bank measures also helped attract foreign exchange flows.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose $12.422 billion to a record $729.328 billion in the week ended August 21.
Foreign currency assets, the largest reserve component, increased $9.482 billion to $591.333 billion.
The value of India’s gold reserves rose $2.801 billion to $114.218 billion.
Special drawing rights increased $112 million to $18.852 billion, while the IMF reserve position rose $26 million to $4.925 billion.
The record followed earlier declines linked to geopolitical tensions and dollar sales; concessional swap measures had attracted $72 billion in forex flows.
- Who
- India and the Reserve Bank of India are central to the report.
- What
- India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $12.422 billion to an all-time high of $729.328 billion.
- When
- The increase was recorded during the week ended August 21 and reported on August 28.
- Where
- India; the report was issued from Mumbai.
- Why
- The increase reflected higher foreign currency assets, gold reserves, special drawing rights, and the IMF reserve position. Measures including concessional swaps were also introduced to attract foreign exchange flows.
- New reserve record
- $729.328 billion
- Weekly increase
- $12.422 billion
- Previous record
- $728.494 billion, recorded in the week ended February 27
- Foreign currency assets
- $591.333 billion, up $9.482 billion
- Gold reserves
- $114.218 billion, up $2.801 billion
- Special drawing rights
- $18.852 billion, up $112 million
- IMF reserve position
- $4.925 billion, up $26 million
- Concessional swap inflows
- $72 billion received under the measures
