RBI deploys 81.43% of foreign currency assets in overseas securities

The share of India’s foreign currency assets deployed in overseas securities rose to 81.43 per cent by September from 80.76 per cent in March, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Report on Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves.

The share of money kept in deposits with other central banks and the Bank for International Settlement (BIS) declined to 13.49 per cent at the end of September from 14.82 per cent at the end of March 2023.
 

However, the share of deposits with commercial banks overseas rose from 4.42 per cent in March to 5.08 per cent in September, the report showed.

The foreign currency assets rose to $521.36 billion at the end of September from $509.69 billion at the end of March, the report added.

The RBI’s gold reserves increased to 800.79 tonnes (including gold deposits of 39.89 tonne) at the end of September. The reserves stood at 794.64 tonnes at the end of March. The share of gold (in value terms) in total foreign exchange reserves decreased to 7.37 per cent at the end of September from 7.81 per cent as of March 2023.

While 388.06 tonne of gold is held overseas in safe custody with the Bank of England and BIS, 372.84 tonnes of gold is held domestically.