MUMBAI: The foreign exchange reserves have climbed sharply to a new record level in the week to February 13, rising by $8.663 billion to $725.727 billion, the Reserve Bank has said.
The latest increase follows a decline of $6.711 billion in the previous reporting week, when the reserves slipped to $717.064 billion. The earlier peak of $723.774 billion was recorded in the week to January 30.
A major contributor to the rise is the spike in the foreign currency assets, which form the largest portion of the reserves. These increased by $3.55 billion to $573.603 billion during the week, according to the Reserve Bank data released Friday.
The foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, reflect the valuation impact of movements in major global currencies such as the euro, pound and yen that are part of reserve holdings.
Gold reserves also registered a strong uptick, rising by $4.99 billion to $128.466 billion, indicating valuation gains amid firm global bullion prices.
In fact for the past several weeks, the appreciation in gold prices has been increasing the overall forex kitty. The RBI holds more than 810 tonnes of gold in the reserves.
Meanwhile, the special drawing rights also rose by $103 million to $18.924 billion during the reporting period, the central bank said, adding the country’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund also improved marginally, increasing by $19 million to $4.734 billion in the week under review, as per RBI figures.