India’s foreign exchange reserves have fallen for the fourth time in the past five weeks. While reserves had increased last week, this week saw another dip as the rupee continued to trade at 89 or above against the US dollar. Along with forex reserves, the country’s gold reserves have also registered a decline. This comes despite the fact that just a few weeks ago, India’s gold reserves held by the RBI had reached record levels. Notably, the RBI has been actively purchasing gold in the current financial year. Here are the details shared by the central bank.

Sharp decline in forex reserves
According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by 4.47 billion dollars to 688.10 billion dollars in the week ending November 21. The drop was largely caused by a steep fall in the value of gold reserves. In the previous week, forex reserves had risen by 5.54 billion dollars to 692.58 billion dollars.

This marks the fourth decline in India’s reserves in five weeks. On October 17, the reserves stood at 702.28 billion dollars. Since then, they have fallen by 14.18 billion dollars.

Significant fall in gold reserves
In contrast, the State Bank of Pakistan reported a slight increase in Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, with a rise of 9 million dollars in the week ending November 21. According to the latest figures, SBP’s reserves have reached 14.56 billion dollars. Commercial banks in Pakistan currently hold 5.04 billion dollars in forex reserves, bringing the country’s total liquid reserves to 19.61 billion dollars.

Officials in Pakistan note that even small weekly improvements help reduce external payment pressures and support financial stability. Regular investments, they say, are contributing to broader efforts to strengthen the country’s overall economic outlook.