India’s Forex Reserves Rise by $ 10.87 Billion as RBI Buys Dollars

Mumbai: India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $10.8 billion to $676.268 billion during the week ended April 4 on dollar buying by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), valuation gains due to increase in gold prices and revaluation of other currencies other than the dollar.

For the week ended April 4, RBI bought dollars of $6.67 billion. The foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased $9.074 billion to $574.088 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. Gold reserves increased $1.567 million to $79.36 billion during the week, the RBI said.

This is the fifth consecutive week of an increase in the forex kitty, showed the RBI weekly Bulletin released on Friday. The overall kitty had jumped $6.596 billion to $665.396 billion in the previous reporting week. The forex reserves had touched an all-time high of $704.885 billion in the week ended September 27, 2024. In the current calendar year so far, the reserves have increased by $36 billion. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up $186 million to $18.362 billion, the apex bank said. India's reserve position with the IMF was also up $46 million to $4.459 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data shows.

Official estimates of the RBI suggest that India's foreign exchange reserves are sufficient to cover approximately 10-11 months of projected imports.