Foreign exchange reserves rise $1.9 bn

India's foreign exchange reserves rose to $281.12 billion in the week ending October 18 by $1.88 billion, shows Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data released Friday. Foreign currency assets, a key component of reserves rose to $252.70 billion, a rise of $1.84 billion during the week. Gold reserves remained unchanged.

For the week under review, the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) rose by $25.6 million to $4.46 billion, while India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund rose by $12.7 million to $2.21 billion.

Meanwhile on Friday the rupee ended at 61.46, marginally strong compared with previous close of Rs 61.47 per dollar. The rupee had opened at Rs 61.50 and during intra-day trades it touched a high of Rs 61.44 and a low of Rs 61.79 per dollar.

According to currency dealers the rupee weakened due to dollar demand by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) who were selling their investments in domestic markets. Besides that there was also month-end dollar demand from importers. However, the rupee ended stable due to dollar sale by corporate in the last hour of trading.