India’s foreign exchange reserves fell sharply in the week ending June 26, 2026, according to the latest RBI weekly statistical data. Total reserves declined by $5.65 billion to $666.93 billion. This drop raises attention among economists and banking watchers across the country.
Key Details from the RBI Weekly Statistical Data
Gold reserves saw the steepest weekly fall, dropping by ₹50,605 crore (around $5.39 billion). Meanwhile, foreign currency assets remained nearly flat week-on-week, inching up by just ₹96 crore. However, on a year-on-year basis, total reserves are still $35.85 billion lower than June 2025 levels.
On the banking front, aggregate deposits of scheduled commercial banks stood at ₹25,84,1605 crore as on June 15, 2026. Year-on-year deposit growth reached 12%, showing healthy momentum. Additionally, bank credit grew 17.7% year-on-year, reflecting strong lending activity across the sector.
The broad money supply (M3) stood at ₹31,22,0737 crore as on June 15, 2026. This represents a year-on-year growth of 11.9%. Currency held by the public also rose 12.9% compared to the same period last year.
RBI Liquidity Operations: Absorption Dominates
The RBI continued to absorb liquidity from the banking system throughout the final week of June 2026. For example, on June 26, the net absorption stood at ₹1,24,008 crore via the Standing Deposit Facility. Therefore, the central bank maintained a tight liquidity stance during this period.
Variable Rate Repo operations injected ₹1,41,171 crore on June 23, providing short-term relief. However, the SDF remained the dominant tool, with daily absorption consistently above ₹1,20,000 crore. As a result, the system liquidity remained in deficit mode for most of the week.
State government advances from the RBI declined slightly to ₹8,790 crore on June 26, down from ₹9,211 crore the previous week. Additionally, advances to the central government stayed at zero throughout. These figures are provisional and subject to minor revision due to rounding.
Source: RBI Press Releases
