‘India’s forex reserves to dip by $23 billion by December’
The HinduIndia's depleted foreign exchange reserves are likely to drop further, falling to their lowest level in more than two years by end-2022, as the Reserve Bank of India continues to defend the rupee from the mighty dollar's rise, a Reuters poll found. In a battle that has so far failed to staunch the rupee's fall to a record low against the greenback, the RBI has drawn down its foreign exchange reserves by close to $100 billion, to $545 billion from a peak of $642 billion a year ago, and more is coming. Those reserves are forecast to fall another $23 billion to $523 billion by the end of this year, according to the median forecast from a September 26-27 Reuters poll of 16 economists. A few economists in the poll warned overall forex reserves could fall more than their forecasts over the coming year due to a ballooning current account deficit, which was expected to end the fiscal year at its widest in a decade.