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India's forex reserves dropped by USD 11.683 billion to USD 716.810 billion during the week ended March 6, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had increased by USD 4.885 billion to an all-time high of USD 728.494 billion. For the week ended March 6, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by USD 9.880 billion to USD 563.245 billion, according to data released by the central bank. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units, such as the euro, pound, and yen, held in the foreign exchange reserves. The value of the gold reserves declined by USD 1.612 billion to USD 130.017 billion during the week, the RBI said. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by USD 146 million to USD 18.720 billion. India's reserve position with the IMF also fell USD 45 million to USD 4.828 billion in the reporting week, according to data.
The government has bought back G-secs worth Rs 6,309 crore from the switch auction conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and has issued bonds worth Rs 6,431.797 crore, according to a release. Government securities (G-Secs) are low-risk debt instruments that are issued by the government and offer fixed returns and are backed by a sovereign guarantee. The securities repurchased by the government were part of the scheduled bonds set to mature in the next financial year. These included Rs 1,684 crore of 7.33 per cent GS 2026, Rs 1,035 crore of 5.74 per cent GS 2026, Rs 590 crore of 8.15 per cent GS 2026, and Rs 3,000 crore of 8.24 per cent GS 2027, the release said. In exchange, the government issued Rs 1,719.236 crore of 6.57 per cent GS 2033, Rs 986.526 crore of 7.62 per cent GS 2039, Rs 605.609 crore of 6.57 per cent GS 2033, and Rs 3,120.426 crore of 7.40 per cent GS 2062, the release added. This is the fourth switch auction by the RBI since February. In a bond switch, th
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday injected Rs 50,000 crore into the banking system through Open Market Operation (OMO) purchases of government securities, according to a release. The Central bank purchased 6.33 per cent GS (Government Security) 2035 bonds worth Rs 13,507 crore, 6.01 per cent GS 2030 worth Rs 13,494 crore, 6.10 per cent GS 2031 of Rs 8,157 crore, 7.30 per cent GS 2053 of Rs 6,955 crore, 7.18 per cent GS 2033 worth Rs 4,479 crore, 6.92 per cent GS 2039 of Rs 2,304 crore, and 6.19 per cent GS 2034 of Rs 1,104 crore, it said. The liquidity in the banking system, currently, is estimated to be in surplus of around Rs 2.41 lakh crore. The OMO purchase auction was announced ahead of expected heavy outflows from the banking system due to advance tax and Goods and Services Tax (GST) payments scheduled later this month. This comes even as liquidity conditions in the banking system currently remain in a significant surplus of Rs 3.02 lakh crore. As per RBI data, it has