MUMBAI: The nation’s foreign exchange reserves have again inched closer to the record peak of over $700 billion it had achieved last September when it has sniffed at $705 billion. For the reporting week of June 27, the Reserve Bank said the reserves increased by USD 4.8 billion to USD 702.78 billion for the week.
The central bank attributed the gains to the rise in foreign currency assets as well as the stable rupee which means that the central bank didn’t enter the market too heavily to steady the local unit.
The reserves had peaked to USD 704.89 billion to the week to September 26, 2024 and since then it has been falling till the last week of February this year losing almost USD 150 billion as the rupee was under tremendous pressure. On February 10 the local unit had plunged to 87.95 to the dollar, its historic low.
Meanwhile, the rupee inched down by 7 paise on Friday to close at 85.32 to the dollar (after rallying 38 paise on Thursday) reflecting a weaker equity market. So far this year the rupee has depreciated by around 0.21% in June and has fallen by 0.18% in the first six months of the calendar year.
The RBI said Friday for the week ending on June 27, foreign currency assets, which are the largest component of the reserves, increased USD 5.75 billion to USD 594.82 billion. 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.
But gold reserves were down by USD 1.23 billion to USD 84.5 billion during the week, while the special drawing rights were up USD 158 million to USD 18.83 billion.