India's Forex Reserves Rise To $697 Billion, Near Record
The country's forex kitty added $5.2 billion over the previous reporting week, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India.
India's foreign exchange reserves rose to $696.7 billion for the week that ended on June 6, nearing a peak set last year. The country's forex kitty added $5.2 billion over the previous reporting week, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India on Friday.
In the previous reporting week, reserves had fallen by $1.2 billion to $691.5 billion.
The RBI's forex holdings have steadily recovered after a steep fall from their peak of $700 billion at the end of September.
Foreign investors have pulled out $10.3 billion from the country's debt and equity markets so far this year, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd.
For the week ended June 6, foreign currency assets—a major component of the reserves—rose $3.5 billion to $587.7 billion, according to the RBI data. In dollar terms, foreign currency assets include the effect of the appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in foreign exchange reserves.
Gold reserves increased by $1.6 billion to $85.8 billion during the week.
Last week, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the central bank will not be "unduly bothered" about rebuilding forex reserves and will add to it "if there are opportunities".
India ranks as the fourth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves, sufficient to cover nearly a year of imports. The country's forex holdings are the fourth largest, after China, Japan and Switzerland.
