EconomyExternal
How much protection do India's foreign reserves provide?
India held US$765.9 billion in gross foreign exchange reserves on 18 Sept 2026. These older figures leave today's reserve cushion uncertain. Reserves covered 11.1 months of goods imports on 18 Sept 2026, using the monthly import average over the year to Aug 2026.
Written for readers following India's external accounts. Data checked on 25 Oct 2026.
How far are reserves from their peak?
Reserves are 2.5% below their peak in this history, US$785.7 billion on 4 Sept 2026. Prices and exchange rates also change their dollar value, so the difference cannot tell us how much the RBI bought or sold.
India's gross foreign exchange reserves
Weekly, US$ billion; actual observation dates.
How to read it. A higher line means a larger reserve cushion in dollars. Gold prices and exchange rates can move it even when the RBI makes no purchases or sales.
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What do India's reserves contain?
Reserves include foreign currency assets, gold and claims on the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Their dollar value changes with prices and exchange rates, even if the RBI holds the same assets.
The components of reserves
Shares of the weekly reserve stock, %.
How to read it. Each area shows an asset's share of reserves. Gold's share can rise because its price rose, the RBI bought more, or other assets shrank; the chart cannot separate these causes.
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Special drawing rights are an international reserve asset allocated by the IMF. The reserve position is India's readily available claim on the IMF.
How long would reserves pay the goods import bill?
Reserves covered 11.1 months of goods imports on 18 Sept 2026, using the monthly import average over the year to Aug 2026.
Reserves against a year of goods import bills
Weekly reserves divided by the trailing monthly merchandise-import average, with an assumed release lag.
How to read it. Higher means more months covered at the past pace of goods imports. A fall can come from lower reserves, a higher import bill, or both.
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Import cover uses a complete year of goods imports. It is left blank when those import figures become too old, and it excludes services and other foreign payments.
Would reserves cover the short-term debt stock?
At the end of Dec 2025, reserves were 4.6 times India's US$150.8 billion of short-term foreign debt. This counts debt by its original repayment term and leaves out longer loans falling due soon.
Reserve cover of short-term debt
Quarter-end stocks; debt by original maturity. Longer loans falling due soon are excluded.
How to read it. Above the reference line, reserves exceed debt originally issued for a short term. More debt may need repaying soon because longer loans can also be nearing their due dates.
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India owed US$765.5 billion abroad at the end of Dec 2025. The debt figures still stop there, leaving more recent borrowing and repayments out of view.
Total and short-term external debt
Quarter-end stocks, US$ billion. Short-term debt is part of the total.
How to read it. The total covers foreign borrowing across India's economy. Only the short-term line enters the reserve-cover ratio above, leaving out longer loans and other foreign payments due soon.
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What the numbers can't tell you
- Import cover uses past bills
- This calculation asks how long reserves would pay for goods imports at their past pace. It leaves out services, future changes in import prices and other foreign payments; revisions can also change the history.
- More debt may be due soon
- Short-term debt here means borrowing originally due for repayment over a short term. Longer loans now nearing repayment are excluded, so the ratio overstates how well reserves cover all debt coming due.
- Reserves change for several reasons
- Gold prices, exchange rates and income can change reserves without the RBI buying or selling dollars. Monthly spot transactions and outstanding forward commitments measure different things, so neither can simply be subtracted from reserves recorded on another date.
- The figures arrive at different times
- Quarterly current-account and debt figures can lag the reserve, trade and investor-flow data. Check each date: an older figure tells us less about India's position today.
- Past figures can be revised
- These charts use the latest available revisions. Import cover allows for a publication delay before using an import figure, but the history cannot recreate the figures readers would have seen at the time.
The workings
The question
Data
Tables and downloads accompany calculated measures. RBI level series are shown as charts only. Bundles are listed in data status.