Forex reserves rise by $1.43 billion

India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $1.43 billion to $248.72 billion for the week ended March 13, 2009, on account of revaluation of international currencies against the US dollar and some investment in securities by foreign institutional investors.

In the rupee terms, the foreign exchange reserves rose by Rs 11,199 crore to Rs 12, 84,240 crore as on March 13.

The foreign currency assets were up by $1.43 billion to $238.15 billion. The reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by $2 million to $0.820 billion. The value of gold reserves remained unchanged at $9.74 billion.

The foreign exchange reserves have declined by $61 billion since the end of March 2008. Since December 2008, the reserves have fallen by $7.2 billion.

The stock market had rallied in the week under review. The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30 stock Sensex closed up by over 5 per cent at 8,756.6 on March 13, 2008 as against 8,325.82 on March 6, 2008.