At present, the US dollar represents slightly more than 60 per cent of global foreign exchange reserves at central banks, compared to more than 80 per cent in the early 1970s.
Banks are refusing to issue new letters of credit for importers due to a shortage of dollars. This has hit the economy which is already suffering due to soaring inflation in the country.
Notably, India last year took over the UK to become the fifth largest economy in the world and is aiming to be the third largest economy in the world by 2037, while Pakistan's economy is running on financial assistance from the global community.
According to RBI's latest data, India's foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, declined by USD 1.747 billion to USD 496,441 billion.
According to sources, the development left Pakistan with an import cover of only under a month, as the country grapples with a deteriorating economic crisis while trying to bring down imports amid a dollar shortage.
India's foreign exchange reserves fell by USD 691 million to USD 562.808 billion in the week that ended on December 23, Reserve Bank of India's Bulletin Weekly Statistical Supplement latest data showed.
Breaking the trend of the fifth consecutive week of rising foreign exchange reserves, they fell by USD 571 million to USD 563.499 billion in the week that ended on December 16, Reserve Bank of India's Bulletin Weekly Statistical Supplement data showed on Friday.
India's foreign exchange reserves during the week that ended on December 9 rose by USD 2.91 billion to USD 564.07 billion. Notably, this is the fifth consecutive week of India's rising foreign exchange reserves.
Typically, the RBI from time to time intervenes in the markets through liquidity management, including through the selling of dollars, with a view to preventing a steep depreciation in the rupee.