NEW DELHI: India’s forex reserves touched an all-time high of $642.49 billion on week-ended March 15 beating the previous highest of $642.45 billion in September 2021. In the week ending March 15, 2024, the country’s forex kitty rose by $6.4 billion.
In the previous week, the reserves rose by $10.5 billion. This is the fourth week in a row India’s forex reserves saw a growth. For the week ended March 15, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $6.034 billion to $568.386 billion, the data 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 $425 million to $51.14 billion during the week, the RBI said. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by $65 million to $18.276 billion, the apex bank said.
Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 35 paise on Friday to settle at an all-time low of 83.48 against the American currency on Friday, tracking a surging greenback against major crosses in the overseas markets and weak Asian peers. Forex traders said foreign fund outflows also weighed on the local unit.
As per forex traders, dollar index witnessed very high volatility and recovered from their lows after better than expected US existing home sales data.