Forex Reserves of India Decline by $9.985 Billion to $671.625 Billion for Week Ending

Key Takeaways

1. India’s forex reserves fell $9.985 billion to $671.625 billion for the week ended June 12, 2026. Gold reserves alone shed $10.754 billion, per RBI data published June 19.
    
2. In the previous week, ending June 5, saw a $711 million drop to $681.610 billion. Two consecutive weekly declines now total $10.696 billion.

India’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $9.985 billion in the week ended June 12, 2026. 

The RBI published the figure on June 19. Total reserves now sit at $671.625 billion. The drop traces back to gold. India’s gold reserves lost $10.754 billion in value, settling at $103.821 billion for the week. 

Foreign currency assets (FCA) moved in the opposite direction. FCAs rose $846 million to $544.290 billion. FCAs capture the value of non-dollar currencies like the euro, pound, and yen held in reserve. SDRs fell $66 million to $18.699 billion. India’s IMF reserve position dipped $11 million to $4.815 billion.
 

What Does this Mean for Indian Borrowers and the Rupee?

India’s foreign exchange reserves were $691.11 billion in March 2026, according to the RBI. The level of $671.625 billion recorded as of June 12 was $19.485 billion lower. Falling forex reserves reduce the extent to which the RBI can sell dollars in order to stabilise the rupee.

The weak rupee makes imports more costly. Oil, edible oils, and electronics become costlier. This translates to inflation in consumer prices. Higher inflation leaves the RBI little scope to cut interest rates. 

This makes the borrowers of floating-rate home loans pay the price of this delay in time. Gold-based borrowing by banks was ₹2.1 lakh crore in March 2025, almost double from ₹1.03 lakh crore in the previous year. 

The enquiries for gold loans on the LoansJagat platform have increased by 38% in January-May 2026 compared to the previous period.

What are Analysts Saying? Is this a Crisis?

The $10.754 billion gold drop came from falling international prices, not from the RBI selling its gold. Gaura Sen Gupta, Chief Economist at IDFC FIRST Bank, said after a similar drop in May 2025: “There was a revaluation loss of $3.4 billion due to the fall in gold prices, and a small amount of selling by the RBI in the spot market.” The June 12 move follows the same logic at a much larger scale.

The RBI has officially clarified that India's physical gold stock is unchanged and denied reports of large-scale gold sales. When global gold prices recover, the dollar value of those holdings goes back up automatically. 

FCAs rising $846 million in the same week confirms the broader reserve base held firm. Analysts expect the figure to recover toward $675 billion to $680 billion by late June, provided gold prices stabilise.

Conclusion

India’s $9.985 billion drop in forex reserves for the week ended June 12 was a valuation event, not a depletion event. Gold prices fell, so the dollar value of India’s gold holdings fell. FCAs rose. No physical gold was sold. Short-term rupee pressure remains a watch point for borrowers over June and July 2026. The reserve number will recover when gold prices do.

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