India’s Forex Kitty Swells By $4.758 Bn To $640.479 Bn

Mumbai: India’s forex reserve jumped by $4.758 billion to $640.479 billion in the week ended February 21, the Reserve Bank said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by $2.54 billion to $635.721 billion. The reserves have been on a declining trend for the past several weeks due to revaluation along with forex market interventions by RBI to help reduce volatility in the rupee. The forex kitty had increased to an all-time high of $704.885 billion in end-September 2024. For the week ended February 21, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $4.251 billion to $543.843 billion, the latest data 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. Gold reserves increased by $426 million to $74.576 billion during the reporting week, the RBI said. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by $73 million to $17.971 billion, the central bank said. India’s reserve position with the IMF was up by $7 million at $4.09 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.