Forex kitty rises by $305 million to $654.271 billion, shows RBI data

The country's forex reserves increased by $305 million to $654.271 billion during the week ended March 14, the RBI said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves rose by $15.267 billion to $653.966 billion and registered the sharpest weekly rise in two years. The spike in foreign reserves was partly attributed to the $10 billion forex swap done by the Reserve Bank of India.

The reserves have been on a declining trend recently due to revaluation, along with forex market interventions by the RBI to help reduce volatilities in the rupee. The forex reserves increased to an all-time high of $704.885 billion in September 2024.

For the week ended March 14, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $96 million to $557.186 billion, the data released on Friday showed. 

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Gold reserves increased by $66 million to $74.391 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by $51 million to $18.262 billion, the apex bank added.

India's reserve position with the IMF was also up by $283 million at $4.431 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.