India’s forex reserves halt five-week losing streak

MUMBAI: India’s foreign exchange reserves snapped a five-week losing streak and rose to $585.9 billion as of Oct. 13, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed on Friday.

The reserves rose $1.16 billion from an over five-month low in the previous week.

India’s forex reserves had declined $14.2 billion in the previous five weeks.

The RBI intervenes in the spot and forwards markets to prevent runaway moves in the rupee.

Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday reiterated that the central bank’s forex market interventions are aimed at preventing excessive volatility and facilitating orderly moves.

Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the RBI’s intervention as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves.

Foreign exchange reserves also include India’s reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.

The rupee was largely flat against the U.S. dollar and traded in the 83.12-83.27 range in the week ending Oct. 13.

The currency settled at 83.1225 on Friday and logged its best weekly rise in two months.

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FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars)
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                               Oct. 13,    Oct. 6,
                               2023        2023
 Foreign currency assets       519,351     519,529
 Gold                           43,575      42,306
 SDRs                           17,995      17,923
 Reserve Tranche Position        4,975       4,983
 Position                       
 Total                         585,895     584,742
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