India’s foreign exchange reserves (forex) rose $4.553 billion to $690.617 billion in the week that ended on May 9, official data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. Notably, the previous all-time high was at $704.89 billion in September 2024.
After extending gains for the eighth straight week, forex kitty fell the next week, to again rise in the May 9 ending week. Barring the latest jump, forex reserves had slumped for about four months. Meanwhile, the latest RBI data showed that India’s foreign currency assets (FCA), the largest component of forex reserves, stood at $581.373 billion.
What Else For India’s Foreign Exchange Reserves?
The gold reserves currently amount to $86.337 billion, according to RBI data. It rose by a whopping $4.518 billion in the latest week. Central banks world over are increasingly accumulating safe-haven gold in their foreign exchange reserves kitty, and India is no exception. The share of gold maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its foreign exchange reserves has almost doubled since 2021.
Estimates suggest that India’s forex reserves are sufficient to cover approximately 10–12 months of projected imports. In 2023, India added around $58 billion to its foreign exchange reserves, contrasting with a cumulative decline of $71 billion in 2022. In 2024, the reserves rose by a little over $20 billion.
It is worth noting that forex reserves are assets held by a nation’s central bank or monetary authority, primarily in reserve currencies such as the US Dollar, with smaller portions in the Euro, Japanese Yen, and Pound Sterling.
The RBI often intervenes by managing liquidity, including selling dollars, to prevent steep Rupee depreciation. The RBI strategically buys dollars when the Rupee is strong and sells when it weakens.
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