India’s forex reserves rise to record high of $723.77bn

MUMBAI: India’s foreign-exchange reserves scaled new highs, hitting $723.8 billion in the week through Jan. 30, data released by the central bank on Friday showed.

The FX reserves are up about $14 billion from the prior week, building on an already record-high level.

India’s foreign-exchange reserves have risen by about $36 billion in just three weeks through Jan. 30, climbing from near $688 billion to a high of $724 billion.

The jump in reserves in that period has coincided with a $10 billion dollar/rupee buy-sell swap by the RBI, with a rally in gold prices and valuation gains on foreign-currency assets adding to the increase.

Foreign-exchange reserves have hit fresh highs in back-to-back weeks despite a prolonged phase in which the rupee has been under pressure from weak capital inflows and persistent dollar demand from importers and hedgers. That pushed the currency close to an all-time low of 92 per dollar, prompting the RBI to sell dollars in the market.

India’s forex reserves rise to record high of $709.41 billion, central bank data shows

The rupee has recovered this week, boosted by the announcement of a U.S.–India trade deal that alleviated pressure on the currency.

Changes in foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of other currencies held in the central bank’s reserves.

Foreign exchange reserves include India’s Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars)