/
RBI's rupee reference rate is 94.14 a dollar as reserves fall US$2.69 bn and banks park Rs 1.78 lakh crore
The RBI's reference rate was 94.1402 per dollar on 6 November. Reserves fell US$2.691 billion to US$717.056 billion in the week to 30 October, and banks parked Rs 1,77,942 crore at the standing deposit facility on 5 November.
A
5 min
The Reserve Bank of India's reference rate for the rupee was 94.1402 per US dollar at 1 pm on 6 November 2026, according to the rate published on the central bank's website, set by the Financial Benchmarks India Limited process. The same table gives 105.3758 to the euro, 126.3870 to the pound and 59.62 for 100 Japanese yen. Market closing quotes for the day were given differently by different sources, between 93.91 and 93.98, so this article uses only the central bank's own numbers.
Behind the rate sit three sets of official data: foreign exchange reserves to 30 October, the surplus of cash in the banking system on 5 November, and the rates at which the RBI absorbed it.
Reserves: US$717.056 billion, down US$2.691 billion
The RBI's Weekly Statistical Supplement, released on 6 November, puts total foreign exchange reserves at US$717.056 billion, or Rs 68,08,728 crore, on 30 October 2026. That is US$2.691 billion lower than the US$719.747 billion a week earlier.
| Item | 30 October 2026 (US$ million) | Change in the week (US$ million) |
|---|---|---|
| Total reserves | 717,056 | −2,691 |
| Foreign currency assets | 591,118 | −2,088 |
| Gold | 102,591 | −559 |
| Special drawing rights | 18,558 | −47 |
| Reserve position in the IMF | 4,790 | +3 |
Foreign currency assets, the largest component at about 82% of the total, fell by US$2.088 billion, and gold, about 14% of the total, by US$559 million. Compared with the end of March 2026, total reserves are US$25.949 billion higher, with foreign currency assets up US$38.835 billion and gold down US$12.805 billion. Over the year since 31 October 2025, reserves are up US$27.324 billion. The supplement does not break the weekly change into purchases, sales and revaluation, so it does not say how much of the fall came from the RBI's market operations. In rupee terms, the total fell by Rs 24,777 crore in the week to Rs 68,08,728 crore, and over the year to 30 October it is up Rs 6,85,697 crore.
Liquidity: Rs 1,96,658 crore absorbed
The RBI's money market data for 5 November show a banking system with surplus cash. Banks parked Rs 1,77,942 crore at the Standing Deposit Facility at 5.25%, and the RBI's net liquidity position, including outstanding operations, was an absorption of Rs 1,96,658.13 crore. Banks also borrowed Rs 4,299 crore at the Marginal Standing Facility at 5.75%.
The central bank's net daily liquidity operations, from 26 October to 1 November, were all absorptions: Rs 14,938 crore, Rs 1,65,213 crore, Rs 1,48,247 crore, Rs 1,63,313 crore, Rs 1,22,343 crore, Rs 1,62,539 crore and Rs 1,82,442 crore.
The overnight money market closed in a tight band on 5 November. The weighted average overnight rate across all segments was 5.55%, and the weighted average call money rate was 5.63% on volume of Rs 14,431.90 crore. Triparty repo, the largest segment at Rs 5,72,289.15 crore, traded at 5.53%.
On 6 November, the RBI ran a three-day variable rate reverse repo auction with Rs 25,000 crore notified. It received offers of Rs 18,133 crore, accepted all of them and set the cut-off rate and the weighted average rate at 5.49%. On 5 November, an overnight auction of the same kind took in Rs 7,767 crore at 5.49%.
The RBI's website lists the policy repo rate at 5.50%, the Standing Deposit Facility rate at 5.25%, the Marginal Standing Facility rate and the Bank Rate at 5.75%, and the fixed reverse repo rate at 3.35%. The cash reserve ratio is 3.00% and the statutory liquidity ratio is 18.00%.
The VRRR rates of 5.49% sit just under the 5.50% repo rate, and call money at 5.63% sits above it, inside the corridor between the SDF and MSF rates.
On the Supplement's banking tables, aggregate deposits of scheduled commercial banks were Rs 2,78,75,910 crore on 15 October 2026, up 16.7% on the year, and bank credit was Rs 2,27,42,777 crore, up 18.2%. Both were lower than a fortnight earlier, by 1.8% for deposits and 1.1% for credit. Broad money, M3, stood at Rs 3,33,00,300 crore, up 16.0% on the year and 1.4% lower than a fortnight earlier, with currency held by the public at Rs 42,55,656 crore, up 14.1% on the year.
What the data do not show
None of these releases says why the rupee moved on a given day. The central bank does not attribute the exchange rate to flows, crude oil or its own market operations in these tables. The reserves figure is a weekly snapshot to 30 October, a week before the 6 November reference rate, so it cannot show what the RBI did in the market on the days the rupee strengthened.
The next scheduled operation is a four-day variable rate repo auction under the liquidity adjustment facility on Monday 9 November, which the RBI announced on 6 November. After that, the weekly supplement will give the reserves position for the week to 6 November. This article is for information and is not investment advice.
Sources
- Reserve Bank of India: current rates, FBIL reference rate for 6 November 20262026-11-06
- Reserve Bank of India: Weekly Statistical Supplement, extract, 6 November 20262026-11-06
- Reserve Bank of India: Money Market Operations as on 5 November 20262026-11-06
- Reserve Bank of India: Result of the 3-day Variable Rate Reverse Repo auction held on 6 November 20262026-11-06
About the Author
A
Amita Sahani
Staff Writer
Amita Sahani writes for Wirony. Every story under this byline is reviewed and approved by an editor before it is published, and corrections are made openly.
A
5 min
What did you think?
