Overview
- India’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $7.052 billion to $709.759 billion for the week ended March 13, according to RBI data.
- Economists and local reports point to RBI dollar selling to support the rupee during Iran‑related tensions and higher oil prices, with one estimate putting spot sales near $6 billion and the rest due to valuation effects.
- For the same week, India’s foreign currency assets dropped $7.678 billion to $555.568 billion, gold reserves rose $664 million to $130.681 billion, and SDRs and the IMF reserve position declined slightly.
- Pakistan’s State Bank reserves rose by $13 million to $16.3537 billion, taking total liquid reserves to $21.7042 billion, including $5.3505 billion held by commercial banks, with levels reflecting an earlier IMF SDR 914 million (about $1.2 billion) boost.
- Market spillovers included a marginal Pakistani rupee gain to 279.25 per dollar and sharp gold price declines, with domestic per‑tola rates down Rs24,300 and global bullion reported nearly 4% lower.