Ira Singh
New Delhi,10 March’24. In a significant boost to India’s economic stability, the country’s foreign exchange reserves jumped $6.55 billion to $625.626 billion for the week ended March 1, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday.
During the previous week, overall reserves had risen by $2.975 billion to $619.072 billion. The country’s forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion, in October 2021. The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed a kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments since last year.
Analytics say, for the week ended March 1, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $6.043 billion to $554.231 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. RBI said Gold reserves increased by $569 million to $48.417 billion during the week.
According to official data, India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $41 million to USD 4.798 billion in the reporting week.