MUMBAI: India's foreign exchange reserves, its best defence against external macroeconomic and financial threats, are approaching the 690-billion dollars mark.
The reserves surged by 5.248 billion dollars during the week ending 6th September, despite the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) repeatedly intervening in the forex market to contain the rupee's depreciation. During the week, the rupee hit the sensitive 84-mark for the first time.
According to the latest weekly data released by the RBI on Friday, the forex reserves increased by 5.248 billion dollars, reaching a new all-time high of 689.235 billion dollars for the week ending 6th September.
Over the past 12 months, ending on 6th September, the Reserve Bank has added a significant 95.33 billion dollars to the reserves. Of this, 77.7 billion dollars has been added to the foreign currency assets, while 17.6 billion dollars has been added to the gold reserves.
The central bank has been accumulating gold aggressively, purchasing over 30 tonnes this year alone, making it the second-largest buyer of gold after China.
For the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had increased by 2.299 billion dollars to 683.987 billion dollars.
In the week ending 6th September, foreign currency assets, which constitute the largest component of the reserves, rose by 5.107 billion dollars to 604.144 billion dollars, according to the data.
Expressed in US dollar terms, foreign currency assets include the effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, the British pound, and the Japanese yen, which are held in the foreign exchange reserves.
Reflecting the rally in international bullion prices, the country's gold reserves also grew by 129 million dollars to 61.988 billion dollars during the week, the RBI reported.
In addition, the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased by 4 million dollars to 18.472 billion dollars. The country’s reserve position with the IMF also rose by 9 million dollars to 4.631 billion dollars during the reporting week.