Forex reserves surge by $4.34 bn

In the previous week ended April 2, the reserves had dipped by $2.42 billion to $576.28 billion

Mumbai: After declining for two consecutive quarters, the country’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves surged by $4.34 billion to $581.21 billion in the week ended April 9, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous week ended April 2, the reserves had dipped by $2.42 billion to $576.28 billion. It had dropped by $2.99 billion to $579.28 billion in the week ended March 26, 2021.

The reserves had touched a lifetime high of $590.18 billion in the week ended January 29, 2021. In the reporting week ended April 9, 2021, the increase in forex reserves was on account of a rise in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves.

---

FCA rose $3.02 billion to $539.45 billion, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly data showed. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like euro, pound and yen held in the forex reserves.

The gold reserves increased by $1.30 billion to $35.32 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed. The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose $6 million to $1.49 billion in the reporting week. The country’s reserve position with the IMF rose $24 million to $4.95 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.