India’s forex kitty rises $9 bn to $697.12 bn; gold drives surge

India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $9.063 billion to $697.121 billion for the week ended April 3, 2026, reversing the decline seen in the previous week, PTI reported.The reserves had dropped by $10.288 billion to $688.058 billion in the week ended March 27.The forex kitty had earlier touched an all-time high of $728.494 billion in the week ended February 27, before the onset of the West Asia crisis, which triggered sustained depletion amid market volatility.The rupee has been under pressure since the start of the conflict, prompting the Reserve Bank of India to intervene in the forex market through dollar sales and take policy measures to curb volatility.According to RBI data, foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the reserves, increased by $1.784 billion to $552.856 billion during the reporting week.The FCAs reflect the impact of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in the reserves.Gold reserves recorded a sharp increase of $7.221 billion to $120.742 billion, contributing significantly to the overall rise in reserves.The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by $58 million to $18.707 billion.India’s reserve position with the IMF remained unchanged at $4.816 billion during the week, the central bank data showed.