RBI buys USD 12.2 billion from markets in January

The Reserve Bank bought a record USD 12.137 billion (net) in January from the spot market to contain rupee volatility and to increase forex reserves.
During the month, the apex bank bought USD 15.259 billion from the market and sold USD 3.122 billion, according to the monthly data released by it today.
In the year-ago period, the central bank had net sold USD 1.929 billion.
In December 2014, RBI had net bought USD 6.739 billion after it bought USD 17.908 billion and sold USD 11.169 billion.
In the entire FY14, RBI net purchased USD 8.992 Billion--bought USD 52.394 billion and sold USD 43.402 billion in the previous fiscal.

The central bank's intervention in the foreign exchange market is aimed at curbing volatility in the currency market.
In the forwards dollar market, the outstanding net forward purchase at the end of January stood at USD 5.576 billion against purchase of USD 6.853 billion in the previous month.
For the week to February 27, the forex reserves hit new high at USD 338.079 billion, an increase of USD 3.886 billion in the week on account of higher foreign currency assets. In the previous week, the reserves had risen by USD 1.023 billion to USD 334.193 billion.