Forex Reserves Surge by $2.296 Billion to $537.548 Billion: RBI Data

The country’s foreign exchange reserves rose by USD 2.296 billion to reach USD 537.548 billion in the week to August 21, RBI data showed on Friday. In the previous week ended August 14, the reserves had declined by USD 2.939 billion to USD 535.252 billion.

The forex kitty had increased by USD 3.623 billion to reach a record high of USD 538.191 billion in the week ended August 7. In the reporting week, the increase in reserves was mainly due to a jump in foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves. FCAs rose by USD 2.618 billion to USD 494.168 billion in the reporting week, the central bank data 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. The gold reserves were down by USD 331 million in the reporting week to USD 37.264 billion. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose USD 2 million to USD 1.481 billion. The country’s reserve position with the IMF also increased by USD 6 million to USD 4.634 billion during the reporting week, the data showed.