The impact of West Asia tension has now started becoming visible on different fronts. Till now, there was shortage of LPG and rising prices of petrol and diesel due to the Iran-America war, but now the impact of the Iran-America war has started on the property of NRIs present in the country. In fact, recently the Reserve Bank of India has released the latest data, which shows that Indians living abroad have withdrawn about 2 billion dollars from their bank accounts in the month of March.
Due to this withdrawal of NRIs, a big decline has been recorded in NRI deposits and the total deposit amount has come down to 165.65 billion dollars, which was 167.58 billion dollars last month. If the solution to the Iran-America war is not found soon, then a further decline in NRI deposits may be seen in the coming days.
Impact of decline in NRI deposits
Due to this withdrawal, the total income of NRI deposits has also reduced. NRI deposits stood at $14.41 billion in 2025-26, whereas in the previous financial year it was $16.16 billion. Bankers and economists believe that if tension in West Asia continues for a long time, its impact may be more visible in future.
Why was the money withdrawn?
In the month of March, it was clearly seen that NRIs withdrew more money than they deposited in banks. This situation was especially seen in two types of accounts.
- NRE (Non-Resident External) Account
- NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary) Account
These accounts are mostly used by Indians working in West Asia.
Which accounts were affected?
According to RBI, deposits in NRE accounts remained at $98.56 billion ($99.77 billion last year), while deposits in NRO accounts remained at $33.33 billion ($34.09 billion last year). At the same time, there has been a slight increase in the FCNR(B) account to $33.76 billion.
Fear of further pressure
Banks say that if tensions increase further in West Asia, there may be a further decline in NRI deposits. This may also affect the Indian banking system and foreign exchange flows.
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