Forex reserves rise USD 204 mln to USD 532.868 bln

Mumbai: India’s forex reserves rose by USD 204 million to USD 532.868 billion for the week ended October 7 on an increase in the value of gold holdings, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped from USD 4.854 billion to USD 532.664 billion. The reserves had been falling for many weeks now as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments.

It can be noted that in October 2021, the country’s forex kitty had reached an all-time high of USD 645 billion.

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

Expressed in dollar terms, the FCAs 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 International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by USD 10 million to USD 4.836 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.