India’s forex reserve at all-time high of $365.82 bn

The Dollar Business Bureau

Foreign exchange reserves of India were increased by $73.2 million to reach an all-time high of $365.82 billion in the week closed on August 12, supported by a surge in the foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.

In the week earlier, the foreign exchange reserves had surged by $253.6 million to reach 365.75 billion. 

Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a key component of the total reserves, were increased by $81.6 million to reach $340.36 billion. Gold reserves remain unaffected at $21.58 billion. 

Expressed in terms of dollars, FCAs take account of the impact of depreciation and appreciation of non-US currencies like pound, euro and yen, held in the reserves. 

India’s special drawing rights with IMF (International Monetary Fund) dropped by $3.2 million to $1.49 billion, whereas the position of reserves declined by $5.2 million to $2.39 billion, said RBI. 

Foreign exchange reserves, also referred as forex reserves, are assets in any foreign currency, mainly in US Dollars, held by the central bank of a country. These assets consist of foreign marketable securities, special drawing rights (SDRs), monetary gold and reserve position in the IMF. The major aim of holding forex reserves is to make foreign payments and hedge against the risks of exchange rate.