India's forex reserves surge to all-time high of USD 493.48 billion amid Covid-19 crisis

Mumbai: The country’s foreign exchange reserves surged USD 3.43 billion to a fresh all-time high of USD 493.48 billion for the week ended May 29 on a handsome accretion of the core currency assets, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.

The reserves, which are counted as a key strength as the country faces the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, had risen by USD 3 billion to an all-time high of USD 490.044 billion in the previous week.

During the week ended May 29, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, increased by USD 3.50 billion to USD 455.21 billion, data from the RBI 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.

Total value of the gold reserves continued to decline and were at 32.682 billion, lower by USD 97 million as compared with the previous week, the central bank said.

In the reporting week, the special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were unchanged at USD 1.43 billion, while India’s reserve position with the IMF also rose by USD 31 million to USD 4.16 billion during the reporting week, the data showed.