India's forex reserves boosted on jump in core currency assets


Devdiscourse News Desk | Mumbai | Updated: 01-02-2019 20:23 IST | Created: 01-02-2019 19:28 IST
India's forex reserves boosted on jump in core currency assets
India's forex reserves had touched a record high of USD 426.028 billion in the week to April 13, 2018.
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  • India

The country's foreign exchange reserves climbed by USD 1.497 billion to reach USD 398.178 billion for the week to January 25, mainly due to a jump in core currency assets, Reserve Bank data showed Friday. The overall reserves had dipped by USD 671 million to USD 396.68 billion in the previous week.

In the reporting week, foreign currency assets -- a major component of the overall reserves -- increased USD 1.423 billion to USD 372.149 billion, the Reserve Bank said. Expressed in US dollars, the forex assets include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in the reserves.

India's forex reserves had touched a record high of USD 426.028 billion in the week to April 13, 2018. Since then, it has been fluctuating and mostly sliding. One of the major reasons for the decline is that the central bank has been selling dollars in the market to contain rupee volatility. In the first five months of the current fiscal, the central bank sold more than USD 34 billion to arrest the fall of the rupee, which had plummeted to 74-levels against the greenback.

The value of the gold reserves also rose by USD 77 million to USD 21.921 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank said. It can be noted that the RBI has been buying bullion after almost a decade. During its fiscal year ending June 2018, the RBI had added 8.46 metric tonnes of gold. The central bank now holds 566.23 tonnes of the yellow metal.

The purchase was made to diversify the foreign currency assets, the RBI had said in its annual report. Special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund dipped by USD 0.7 million to USD 1.464 billion in the week. The country's reserve position with the IMF also decreased by USD 1.2 million to USD 2.643 billion, the apex bank said.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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