Forex reserves surge $16.6 billion to record high of $633.5 billion

India's forex kitty had declined by USD 2.47 billion to USD 616.895 billion in the previous week ended August 20, 2021

The country's foreign exchange reserves soared by USD 16.663 billion to touch a lifetime high of USD 633.558 billion in the week ended August 27, mainly due to an increase in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) holdings, RBI data showed. On Wednesday, RBI had said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made an allocation of SDR 12.57 billion (equivalent to around USD 17.86 billion at the latest exchange rate) to India on August 23, 2021.

SDR holdings are part of the foreign exchange reserves of a country. IMF makes the general SDR allocation to its members in proportion to their existing quotas in