India’s foreign exchange reserve has touched a new high at $674.91 billion for the reporting week to August 2, ratcheting up a good $7.53 billion in the reporting week, indicating a robust external sector performance, according to the data released by Reserve Bank of India on Friday (August 9).
The forex reserves had dipped by $3.47 billion to $667.39 billion for the week to July 26, as the rupee remained range-bound and had plumed many new lows. The previous all time high was at $670.86 billion as of July 19.
The rupee has been under stress throughout July which only accentuated in the first week of August wherein it had tested the sensitive 84 mark twice intra-day and plunged to an all-time low closing of 83.97 this Wednesday when the market also tanked by over 3 percent. But it gained 8 paise to close at 83.90 on Friday over the previous close.
The governor Shaktikanta Das, while announcing the monetary policy Thursday had said such high reserves indicate a robust external sector performance of the nation as it can now cover more than 15 months of imports.
“Overall, our external sector remains resilient as key indicators continue to improve. We remain confident of meeting our external financing requirements comfortably,” Das had said.
According to the weekly statistical supplement released by the central bank, the foreign currency assets which are the largest component of the forex kitty, rose by $5.1 billion to $592.04 billion. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of non-US units like the euro, the English pound and the Japanese yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
On the other hand, reflecting the soaring prices in international markets, gold reserves expanded by $2.4 billion to $60 billion. Special drawing rights for the reporting week fell by $41 million to $18.161 billion while the reserve position in the IMF rose $8 million to $4.62 billion.
