India eyes RBI rate decision, GST reforms and PMI data amid sharp forex reserve drop

India’s economic calendar this week is dominated by three key events. First, the RBI’s monetary policy committee meets from October 5 to 7 to review the economy and decide on the policy rate, having left the repo rate unchanged at 5.25% in its August session. Second, HSBC will release its September Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index on October 6, with the index expected to stay above the 50-point expansion threshold for the 62nd consecutive month.

Third, the GST Council is slated to consider a suite of GST 2.0 process reforms on October 7, including simplified registration for small sellers using e-commerce platform warehouses. In parallel, RBI figures show foreign exchange reserves fell by $18.3 billion in the week to September 25, marking the steepest weekly drop on record and bringing total reserves to $747.6 billion. The decline follows a $15.6 billion fall the week before, after a peak of $785.7 billion earlier in September.