Mumbai: India’s forex reserves jumped $ 8.31 billion to $ 686.145 billion for the week ended April 18 led by dollar buying by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), valuation gains due to an increase in gold prices and revaluation of other currencies other than the dollar.
According to the data released in the RBI Weekly Bulletin on Friday, forex reserves are now at a six-month high and about $19 billion away from the record high of $705 billion at the end of September 2024.
“Gold valuation rose by $4.58 billion, while revaluation profit on non-dollar currencies was $0.86 billion. The RBI bought repeat $2.87 billion while the FII net inflow was $ 1.26 billion,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of treasury and executive director, Finrex Treasury Advisors.
This is the seventh consecutive week of a rise in the kitty, which had jumped by $ 1.56 billion to $ 677.835 billion in the previous reporting week ended April 11.
For the week under review, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $ 3.516 billion to $ 578.495 billion.
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.
Gold reserves increased by $ 4.575 billion to $ 84.572 billion during the week. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by $ 212 million to $ 18.568 billion.
Economic uncertainty, fueled by geopolitical tensions and trade wars has motivated central banks across the world to look at gold as a safe-haven asset. The RBI has bought 57.5 tonnes of gold in FY25 even as gold prices surged more than a third through a period of volatility in global financial assets. With 879 tonnes of gold reserves, the country is the seventh largest in terms of gold reserves after the US (8,133.46 tonnes), Germany (3,351.53 tonnes), Italy (2,451.84 tonnes), France (2,436.94 tonnes), China (2,264.32 tonnes) and Switzerland (1,039.94 tonnes).
