India’s foreign exchange reserves have crossed the crucial $700 billion mark, surging by $3.825 billion to $700.946 billion during the week ended April 10, signalling a robust recovery and strengthening the nation’s economic resilience.
Illustration: Dado Ruvic/Reuters
Key Points
- India’s forex reserves increased by $3.825 billion to $700.946 billion during the week ended April 10.
- This marks a significant recovery after a period of decline due to Middle East conflict and RBI intervention.
- Foreign currency assets, a major component, rose by $3.127 billion to $555.983 billion.
- The value of gold reserves also saw an increase of $601 million, reaching $121.343 billion.
- Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and India’s reserve position with the IMF also showed modest gains.
India’s forex reserves jumped $3.82 billion to $700.95 billion during the week ended April 10, says RBI.
In the previous reporting week ended April 3, the overall reserves had jumped $9.06 billion to $697.12 billion.
Recovery After Recent Volatility
The kitty had expanded to an all-time high of $728.49 billion during the week ended February 27 this year, before the onset of the Middle East conflict which led to several weeks of a drop as the rupee came under pressure and the RBI had to intervene in the forex market through dollar sales.
For the week ended April 10, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $3.13 billion to $555.98 billion, the central bank’s data showed.
Components of the Reserves
Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units, such as the euro, pound, and yen, held in the foreign exchange reserves.
Value of gold reserves increased by $601 million to $121.34 billion during the week, the RBI said.
The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up $56 million to $18.76 billion, the apex bank said.
India’s reserve position with the IMF was up $41 million to $4.86 billion at the end of the reporting week, according to the apex bank’s data.
