MUMBAI: India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $4.5 billion and stood at $674.66 billion as of Aug. 16, but were just shy of record highs, data from the Reserve Bank of India showed on Friday.
The forex reserves had fallen by $4.8 billion in the previous week, the biggest decline in four months. The reserves had reached a record high of $674.92 billion in the week to Aug. 2.
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.
India’s foreign exchange reserves come off record highs
In the week ending Aug. 16, the rupee was flat on a week-on-week basis.
The RBI has routinely intervened via state-run banks to help the rupee hold above the 84-handle, a psychologically important support level for the currency, traders said.
The rupee settled at 83.89 on Friday and strengthened marginally week-on-week.
Foreign exchange reserves (in million US dollars)
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Aug 16 Aug 09
2024 2024
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Foreign currency assets 591,569 587,960
Gold 60,104 59,239
SDRs 18,341 18,282
Reserve Tranche Position 4,650 4,638
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Total 674,664 670,119
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American Dollar Exchange Rate