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India's forex reserves rise by $2.7 bn to reach $698.1 bn in July
In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped USD 1.183 billion to USD 695.489 billion.
For the week ended July 25, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by USD 1.316 billion to USD 588.926 billion, the data showed.
Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
The gold reserves grew by USD 1.206 billion to USD 85.704 billion during the week, the RBI said.
The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by USD 126 million to USD 18.809 billion, the apex bank said.
India's reserve position with the IMF was higher by USD 55 million at USD 4.753 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed.
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First Post
a few seconds ago
- First Post
Why India is a spoke in the Trump-Xi wheel
The emergence of India as a significant economic and military power is a complication in the G2 global power duopoly read more No one likes an impoverished former colony becoming the world's fourth-largest economy. At Independence in 1947, India had a minuscule GDP of Rs. 2.70 lakh crore. By the end of 2025, India's GDP is projected by the IMF to be Rs. 360 lakh crore ($4.19 trillion). This would make India not only the world's fourth-largest economy but also, at an annual growth rate of 6.5 per cent, the world's fastest-growing major economy. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD All of these rankles in two global capitals: Washington and Beijing. US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are resigned to battling each other in a long, drawn-out Second Cold War. The emergence of India as a significant economic and military power is a complication in this G2 global power duopoly. Trump's punitive tariff rate of 25 per cent on Indian exports, along with an unspecified penalty for buying oil and military equipment from Russia, reflects Washington's angst. India's economy is still too small—one-fifth China's size and one-seventh America's—to be an immediate concern to either. But both know that, over the next decade, India will be the only country outside the G2 that can swing the balance of global power between the US-led West and the China-led East. India is therefore in the awkward position of being both an ally and a threat to the G2. The recent thaw in India's relations with China is aimed at lowering the bilateral temperature between Beijing and Delhi. China is meanwhile quietly pleased at the tension between the US and India over trade tariffs. Washington has pivoted away from India in Trump's second term. It wants to keep India in the Western camp but is annoyed at India's independent streak over foreign and trade policy. The tariff attack is meant to place pressure on India to toe its geopolitical line. Russia is a red flag. Legislation imposing 100 per cent secondary sanctions on India for buying Russian crude will come up before the House of Representatives when it reconvenes in September. But saner minds in Washington know that India can easily replace the 2.1 million barrels of oil it buys per day from Russia with crude from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and South America. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD As India's Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, India bought just 0.1 per cent of its total crude from Russia before 2022. It can go back to near-zero again. The world is awash in oil as demand in China tapers amid its move towards green fuels. The US and China, as they contest global supremacy well into the 2030s, have both tried to weaken India's resolve. China infiltrated across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on multiple occasions before opting for a more calibrated strategy after India exhibited military force. Significantly, Beijing did not block the UN Security Council's condemnation last week of Pakistani terror group TRF (an LeT offshoot). The UNSC, using strong language, said the TRF was responsible for the Pahalgam attack. Future world order? In his new book The Once and Future World Order, Amitav Acharya, distinguished professor of international relations at American University in Washington, DC, argues that the US-led Western world order was a continuation of older world orders—including civilisations in India and China. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Acharya says that as the West declines, the 'Rest' will form a multiplicity of global power blocs. That does not align with the US-China construct of a G2 world. While Washington and Beijing are discomfited by a rising India, some commentators in India downplay the decline of the West that Acharya accurately portrays and underplay the rise of the Rest. For example, C Raja Mohan, distinguished fellow at the Council of Defence and Strategic Research, wrote in The Indian Express on July 30: 'Acharya's critique of Western dominance is compelling, but not all aspects of the Western legacy can or should be discarded. The Enlightenment ideals of the 17th and 18th centuries—reason, scepticism, science, individual liberty, and secularisation of society away from religious dominance—are at the very foundation of Western primacy in the last three centuries." 'If the East wishes to lead in shaping the world order, it must engage these ideals critically and constructively. Any notion that the East can rise by short-circuiting these values is an illusion. It only delays and derails the effort to rise. The battles against political, religious, and other absolutisms remain to be fought and won in the East. Until then, a rising East will not present an alternative model—only a different and less attractive one. The profound internal contradictions within and across the East will continue to keep it well behind the West.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD This is the sort of commentary Western institutions use to buttress their own thesis of Western supremacy in a Trump-led world. In Raja Mohan's article, the West is lauded for its 'reason, scepticism, individual liberty, and secularisation of society' without a word (beyond the solitary reference to 'exploitation') pointing out the other contributory factors for the West's rise: rapacious colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, and extra-territorial invasions. All occurred after the Age of Enlightenment. Acharya's conclusions of a 'multiplex' global order might be an old idea wrapped in a new cover, but it stays honest to the history of the West and the Rest. The rise of China, for example, is inevitable. So is India's over a longer period. The two Asian powers may meanwhile reach a modus vivendi over the next few critical years. By 2035, the combined GDP of China ($30 trillion) and India ($8 trillion) will equal the estimated US GDP at the time ($38 trillion). STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The G2 could then morph into a G2+1 before becoming a full-fledged G3. It is not a prospect either Washington or Beijing relishes. The writer is an editor, author and publisher. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Economic Times
30 minutes ago
- Economic Times
US-Russia-India tensions could spark crude oil prices to touch $80 per barrel
Synopsis Oil market experts predict Brent crude oil prices will likely surge to USD 80 per barrel due to escalating US-Russia tensions threatening global oil supplies. Potential sanctions and tariffs on countries trading with Russia, initiated by the US, could further inflate prices. Disruptions in Russian oil flow could push prices even higher, potentially reaching USD 100-120 per barrel. ANI Representative image. Brent crude oil prices are expected to rise to USD 80 per barrel in the coming months as tensions between the United States and Russia threaten to disrupt the global oil supply chain, highlighted oil market experts in conversation with prices may face upward pressure as geopolitical risks increase. NS Ramaswamy, Head of Commodities & CRM at Ventura, said, "Brent Oil (Oct'25) from USD 72.07 has a short-term target of USD 76. Year end 2025 could reach USD 80-82. Downside support and cap at USD 69. U.S. President Donald Trump has given Russia a deadline of 10-12 days to end the war in Ukraine, failing which it runs a risk of additional sanctions and secondary tariffs of 100 per cent on countries trading with Russia, which would push the oil prices higher."This move by US President Trump could further increase oil prices, as countries dependent on Russian crude would face a difficult choice between buying cheaper oil and facing heavy export tariffs to the WTI Crude Oil (Sep'25), experts expect a short-term target of USD 73 from the current level of USD 69.65. The price could rise to USD 76-79 by the end of 2025, while the downside support is at USD 65. Experts said such developments could disrupt the global oil market. A supply shock may result from reduced spare production capacity, which would likely push oil prices higher through dilemma remains that President Trump wants lower oil prices, but a quick increase in US oil production is not possible, as it involves infrastructure, labour, and expert Narendra Taneja told ANI, "Russia exports 5 million barrels of oil into the global (oil) supply system every day. Crude oil prices would rise significantly - USD 100 to 120 per barrel, if not more - if the Russian oil is forced out of the global supply chains".He also added, "If Russian oil stops flowing into Indian refineries, prices would rise globally for sure. There would be no shortage of oil in India because our refiners import from 40 different countries, but balancing the price for consumers would be a challenge."Even if Saudi Arabia and select OPEC countries step in to fill the supply gap, it will take time, adding to short-term price pressure. The oil market could shift into a deficit situation even if OPEC+ does not announce further production the recent US-EU trade deal has provided some support to the market, but geopolitical tensions persist and continue to add upside risks. The market is also closely watching US inventory levels and the upcoming interest rate decision, with a stronger US dollar keeping some pressure on oil extended US-China trade truce has also supported market sentiment, but risks remain elevated in the oil sector.
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Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
India reacts with outrage to Trump's tariff hike, 'dead' economy remarks
India is hardly alone in facing Trump's trade wrath - and not the subject to the very highest rates - but the news left business and political leaders wondering how to cope with the fallout Bloomberg By Satviki Sanjay and Swati Gupta Shock, dismay and angst swept across India as businesses, policymakers and citizens digested US President Donald Trump's sharp remarks and a surprise 25 per cent tariff rate earlier this week. While Indian government officials weighed a response and business groups tallied the cost of the trade barrier, the local social media flared up with users protesting Trump's comments and criticizing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not speaking up. It started with Trump saying that India's trade barriers were the 'most strenuous and obnoxious,' in a Truth Social post July 30. He added the US may also impose a penalty for New Delhi's purchase of Russian weapons and energy. Less than a day later, he ripped into India again for aligning with Russia, calling them 'dead economies' in another post. I don't think any head of state has insulted India as Trump does. I don't know how @narendramodi calls him a friend and doesn't speak up. Tariffs, penalties, and saying 'I don't care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. — Maheshwer Peri (@maheshperi) July 31, 2025 With no imminent trade deal, the 25 per cent tariffs kicked in as of Friday. India is hardly alone in facing Trump's trade wrath — and not the subject to the very highest rates — but the news left business and political leaders wondering how to cope with the fallout. 'Blunt-Force' Message 'Overnight, the US-India trade equation shifted from tense to turbulent,' said Akshat Garg, assistant vice president at Choice Wealth, a Mumbai based financial services firm. The levies 'feel less like structured policy and more like a blunt-force political message.' Complicating the narrative around the India trade deal — or the lack of it — was the US pact with its traditional rival Pakistan that came through on the same day. As the US released rates across the world on Aug. 1, India's relative disadvantage to competitor exporting countries became more apparent, dampening moods and stoking tempers further. 'The biggest blow is that Pakistan and Bangladesh got a better rate than us,' V. Elangovan, managing director at SNQS Internationals, an apparel maker in the south Indian manufacturing hub of Tirupur, told Bloomberg News. 'We were expecting something in the 15 to 20 per cent range.' India's annoyance can be traced back in part to Trump declaring himself the peacemaker that helped broker a ceasefire in the armed conflict between India and Pakistan in May. The move was seen as an effort to upstage Modi and put the two South Asian neighbors on an equal footing, despite India's larger military and economy. The events of this week have cemented that impression further in the eyes of some Indian observers. India has hoped it could do a fair deal with US. But succumbing to bullying is not part of the deal. At the end of the day, a trade deal has to be fair, and it must ensure that lives of Indians become better, not worse. Trump too shall pass. US tariffs are not the end of the… — sushant sareen (@sushantsareen) July 30, 2025 When the tariff rate news first dropped in late Wednesday evening in India, Ashish Kanodia recalls being 'very disturbed.' A director at Kanodia Global, a closely held exporter that gets over 40 per cent of its revenue from the US selling home fabrics to toys, the entrepreneur already has two of its largest US customers seeking discounts to make up for the levy. 'The next six months are going to be difficult for everyone,' Kanodia said, adding that profit margins will be squeezed. If the pain continues for 'months and months,' he said he'll have to start cutting his workforce. The US is India's largest trading partner, with the two-way trade between them at an estimated $129.2 billion in 2024. Compared with India's 25 per cent, Bangladesh was subjected to a 20 per cent tariff, Vietnam got a 20 per cent levy and Indonesia and Pakistan each received 19 per cent duties. 'We know that we have got a deal that is worse than other countries,' said Sabyasachi Ray, executive director at The Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council. 'We will take it up with the government.' Quite the unravelling of the Delhi - Washington relationship over the past 48 hours... ???????????????? > Trump announces 25% tariffs against India > Trump announces oil deal with Pakistan > US imposes sanctions against Indian petrochem companies for trading with Iran — Kabir Taneja (@KabirTaneja) July 31, 2025 Trump's actions mark a 180-degree turn for New Delhi's hopes of preferential treatment over regional peers. It was among the first to engage Washington in trade talks in February, confident of hammering out a deal sooner than others. Trump had called India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'my friend' in a Feb. 14 post on X and the bond between the two countries 'special.' India is now weighing options to placate the White House, including boosting US imports, Bloomberg News reported citing people familiar with the matter, and many hope that the bilateral relationship and the tariff rate can still be improved. 'It is a storm in the India-US relationship at this moment but I think there's a good chance that it will go away,' Vivek Mishra, deputy director of the Strategic Studies Programme at Delhi based Observer Researcher Foundation, told Bloomberg News. Indian business and trade groups are supporting the government's stance on the deal as the negotiations for a US-India trade deal continue. Negotiating Tactic Jewelry businesses 'are worried but they are not panicking' because they hope a more favorable deal can be worked out, said Ray of the gems export body. 'The negotiation that should be happening should be a win-win, not a win-lose.' The abrupt announcement by Trump over social media when negotiations with India were ongoing 'seems like a knee-jerk reaction,' according to Rohit Kumar, founding partner at public policy research firm The Quantum Hub. 'This appears to be a negotiating tactic aimed at unresolved discussion points,' Kumar said.
