Forex Reserves Surge $1 Bn On $ Buying

The country's foreign exchange kitty rose by over $1 billion in a fortnight, on the back of large-scale dollar buying from the market.

Between October 26 and November 9, the foreign exchange reserves surged from $45.161 billion to $46.258 billion. The rupee remained steady in the 47.97 to 48.95 range during the fortnight.

The accretion in the forex reserves was attributed to the increase in the central bank's foreign currency assets, which jumped by $1.081 billion to $43.309 billion during the time.

Gold reserves went up $12 million during the period, while the special drawing rights reserves increased by $1 million during the fortnight.

Money supply rose by 0.5 per cent (Rs 6,720 crore) to Rs 14.27,829 crore during the fortnight ended November 2.

Currency with the public increased by 1.4 per cent (Rs 3,180 crore) to Rs 2,25,605 crore, while time deposits with the bank surged by 0.3 per cent (Rs 2,895 crore) to Rs 10,33,255 crore.

Demand deposits with the bank increased by 0.4 per cent (Rs 611 crore) to Rs 1,65,548 crore. Reserve money fell by 3.1 per cent (Rs 9,907 crore) to Rs 3,07,363 crore during the week ended November 9.

The fall in the reserve money was mainly on account of a dip in the bankers' deposit with the RBI which dipped by 19.5 per cent (Rs 15,541 crore) to Rs 64,353 crore.

Currency in circulation increased by 2.5 per cent (Rs 5,824 crore) to Rs 2,39,778 crore.

The ways and means advances increased by Rs 705 crore during the week ended November 9 to Rs 7,061 crore. The loans and advances to state governments went up by Rs 2,522 crore to Rs 7,311 crore.

The SLR portfolio of the banking industry went up 0.3 per cent (Rs 775 crore) to Rs 4,16,319 crore. Investment in government securities increased by Rs 661 crore to Rs 3,85,324 crore, while the investment in the other approved securities increased by Rs 114 crore to Rs 30,995 crore.

Bank's SLR investment as a percentage of aggregate deposits now stands at 39.5 per cent, as against the RBI stipulation of 25 per cent.