India’s foreign exchange reserves snap three-week fall

MUMBAI: India’s foreign exchange reserves snapped a three-week losing streak and stood at $602.16 billion as of Aug. 11, data from the country’s central bank showed on Friday.

The reserves rose by $700 million from the week earlier, having fallen by a total of $7.6 billion in the prior three weeks.

The changes in foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effects of appreciation or depreciation of other currencies held in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) reserves.

Foreign exchange reserves include India’s Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.

The central bank also intervenes in the spot and forwards markets to prevent runaway moves in the rupee.

The RBI likely sold dollars via public sector banks this week to ensure that the rupee does not fall to a record low, Reuters reported, citing traders.

In the week for which the forex reserves data pertains, the rupee traded in a range of 82.6725 to 82.8525 against the dollar.

The rupee ended at 83.1025 on Friday, down 0.2% for the week.

 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars)
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                              Aug 11        Aug 4
                               2023         2023
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Foreign currency assets      534,399      533,400
Gold                          44,340       44,680
SDRs                          18,324       18,274
Reserve Tranche Position       5,098        5,099
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Total                        602,161      601,453
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