Forex reserves up by $204 mn to $532 bn in first weekly rise since Aug

PTI

Mumbai, October 14

India's forex reserves rose by USD 204 million to USD 532.868 billion for the week ended October 7 helped by a jump in the value of gold holdings, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

Making progress

This is the first weekly rise in since the seven days ended August 27, when the overall reserves stood at $571.56 billion

This is the first weekly rise in the kitty since the seven days ended August 27, when the overall reserves stood at USD 571.56 billion.

In the preceding week ended September 30, the overall reserves had dropped by USD 4.854 billion to USD 532.664 billion. The reserves have been falling for the past several weeks as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments. In October 2021, the country's forex kitty had reached an all-time high of USD 645 billion.

Foreign Currency Assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, saw a drop of USD 1.311 billion to USD 471.496 billion during the week to October 7, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI on Friday. 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.

The rise in the overall reserves for the week ended October 7 was on account of a sizable increase in the value of the gold holdings, which rose USD 1.35 billion to USD 38.955 billion, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) rose by USD 155 million to USD 17.582 billion, the apex bank said.

The country's reserve position with the IMF rose by USD 10 million to USD 4.836 billion in the reporting week, the central bank data showed.