Forex reserves rise $204 mn to $532.8 bn

NEW DELHI: India’s forex reserves rose by $204 million to $532.868 billion for the week ended October 7 on an increase in the value of gold holdings, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by $4.854 billion to $532.664 billion. The reserves had been falling for many weeks now as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments.

It can be noted that in October 2021, the country’s forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion. Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, saw a drop of $1.311 billion to $471.496 billion during the week ended October 7, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

Expressed in dollar terms, the FCAs include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound, and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves. The rise in the overall reserves for the week ended October 7 was on account of a sizable increase in the value of the gold holdings, which rose from $1.35 billion to $38.955 billion, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) rose by $155 million to $17.582 billion, the apex bank said. The country’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by $10 million to $4.836 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.