Foreign exchange reserves of India hit all-time high for sixth week in a row

Mumbai:  India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves touched new life-time high    in the week ended on September 27.  The Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revealed this. This is for sixth week in a row that the forex reserves is gaining.

As per RBI data,  India’s forex reserves surged $12.5 billion to hit an all-time high of $704.89 billion. In the previous week ended September 20, the forex reserves jumped by $2.8 billion to $692.3. India’s forex reserves jumped $223 million to a fresh all-time high of $689.458 billion for the week ended September 13. The forex kitty had jumped by $5.248 billion to a record $689.235 billion for the previous reporting week. In nearly a month between August 9 and September 13, India’s foreign exchange rose by 2.88 per cent from $670.119 billion to $689.458.

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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.

India’s gold reserves rose $2.184 billion to $65.796 billion during the week ended September 27. Foreign currency assets increased by $10.468 billion to $616.154 billion. The special drawing rights (SDRs) increased by $8 million to $18.547 billion. However, India’s reserve position with the IMF fell by $71 million to $4.387 billion in the reporting week.

Foreign investors have pumped in Rs 2.34 lakh crore into the country’s debt and equity markets so far this year, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd.  The month of September has seen Rs 93,538 crore make its way into Indian bonds and equities.