India’s depleted foreign exchange reserves are likely to drop further, falling to their lowest level in more than two years by end-2022.

Forex to dip

• 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.
• Those reserves are forecast to fall another $23 billion to $523 billion by the end of this year.

What is Foreign Exchange (Forex) Reserve?

• Foreign exchange reserves are important assets held by the central bank in foreign currencies as reserves.
• They are commonly used to support the exchange rate and set monetary policy.
• In India’s case, foreign reserves include Gold, Dollars, and the IMF’s quota for Special Drawing Rights.
• Most of the reserves are usually held in US dollars, given the currency’s importance in the international financial and trading system.
• Some central banks keep reserves in Euros, British pounds, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan, in addition to their US dollar reserves.

India’s forex reserves cover:

• Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs)
• Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)
• Gold Reserves
• Reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Countries with the highest foreign reserves

Currently, China has the largest reserves followed by Japan and Switzerland. India has overtaken Russia to become the fourth largest country with foreign exchange reserves. (Data from August 2022)

1. China – $3,349 Billion
2. Japan – $1,376 Billion
3. Switzerland – $1,074 Billion
4. India – $612.73 Billion
5. Russia – $597.40 Billion

Why are these reserves so important?

• All international transactions are settled in US dollars and, therefore, required to support India’s imports.
• More importantly, they need to maintain support and confidence for central bank action, whether monetary policy action or any exchange rate intervention to support the domestic currency.
• It also helps to limit any vulnerability due to sudden disturbances in foreign capital flows, which may arise during a crisis.
• Holding liquid foreign currency provides a cushion against such effects and provides confidence that there will still be enough foreign exchange to help the country with crucial imports in case of external shocks.

Initiatives taken by the government to increase forex

• To increase the foreign exchange reserves, the Government of India has taken many initiatives like AatmaNirbhar Bharat, in which India has to be made a self-reliant nation so that India does not have to import things that India can produce.
• Other than AatmaNirbhar Bharat, the government has started schemes like Duty Exemption Scheme, Remission of Duty or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP), Nirvik (Niryat Rin Vikas Yojana) scheme, etc.
• Apart from these schemes, India is one of the top countries that attracted the highest amount of Foreign Direct Investment, thereby improving India’s foreign exchange reserves.

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