Foreign exchange reserves of India hit record high

Mumbai: India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves touched an all-time high in the week ended on March 22. The Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revealed this. This is fifth week in a row that the forex reserves are surging.

India’s forex reserves increased by $140 million to touch its all-time high of $642.631 billion during the week ended March 22. The overall reserves had increased by $6.396 billion to $642.492 billion in the previous reporting week.

Before March 8 week, the reserves rose by $10.470 billion to $636.095 billion. In the week ended on March 1, the overall forex reserves had jumped by $6.55 billion to $625.626 billion.

Also Read: Triumph Motorcycles unveils Trident 660 special edition: Details 

In the week ended  on February 16, the reserves touched two-month low  of $616.10 billion.  In the week ended February 9, forex reserves drop by $5.27 billion to reach $617.23 billion. This was the  steepest fall in a month, after having risen by a total of $6.36 billion in the prior two weeks. The reserves were last lower when they stood at $615.97 billion as on December 15. In  October 2021, the country’s forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.

Forex reserves, or foreign exchange reserves (FX reserves), are assets that are held by a nation’s central bank or monetary authority. It is generally held in reserve currencies, usually the US Dollar and, to a lesser degree, the Euro, Japanese Yen, and Pound Sterling.

The foreign exchange reserves of the country comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs) and the country’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). FCA is the largest component of the forex reserves. It includes the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies like the euro, pound, and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

The foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $123 million to $568.264 billion. Gold reserves increased by $347 million to $51.487 billion during the week. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by $57 million to $18.219 billion. India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $27 million to $4.662 billion in the reporting week.