Forex reserves slip US$ 8.6 billion to US$ 726 billion; bank cash surplus grows
Reserves fell for a third straight week to October 9, 2026, while RBI soaked up as much as ₹4.3 lakh crore of spare bank cash in a day.
Official title: Reserve Bank of India – Bulletin Weekly Statistical Supplement – Extract · Press Release 2026-2027/1341
What happened
Foreign exchange reserves stood at US$ 726.0 billion on October 9, 2026, down US$ 8.6 billion in the week. Over three weeks they have fallen by about US$ 40 billion. Foreign currency assets were US$ 597.6 billion and gold US$ 105.1 billion. The release gives no reasons.
Cash in the banking system grew. RBI absorbed between ₹1.4 lakh crore and ₹4.3 lakh crore of surplus bank money each day, the highest on October 7. State governments' short-term loans from RBI rose further to ₹58,569 crore. Bank and money supply figures repeat the September 30 data: deposits up 17.8% and loans up 19.4% over a year.
What it means for you
No direct effect. Large spare cash in banks usually keeps deposit and loan rates soft. Reserves are still big enough to cover many months of imports.
What it means for businesses
Surplus cash keeps short-term borrowing cheap for banks and companies. Several states are leaning on RBI for short-term funds, which can show up as more state bond borrowing later.
Read the original
Press release on rbi.org.in ↗ Official PDF ↗
This explainer simplifies the official text. If anything here differs from the RBI's release, the release is right.