Amid covid crisis, India's forex reserves surge to all-time high of US$ 493.48 billion

Mumbai, June 5

The country's foreign exchange reserves surged US$ 3.43 billion to a fresh all-time high of US$ 493.48 billion for the week ended May 29 on a handsome accretion of the core currency assets, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.

The reserves, which are counted as a key strength as the country faces the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, had risen by USD 3 billion to an all-time high of US$ 490.044 billion in the previous week.

During the week ended May 29, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, increased by US$ 3.50 billion to US$ 455.21 billion, data from the RBI showed.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Total value of the gold reserves continued to decline and were at 32.682 billion, lower by US$ 97 million as compared with the previous week, the central bank said.

In the reporting week, the special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were unchanged at US$ 1.43 billion, while India's reserve position with the IMF also rose by US$ 31 million to US$ 4.16 billion during the reporting week, the data showed. PTI