MUMBAI: India’s foreign exchange reserves rose for the seventh straight week to hit a record high of $648.56 as of April 5, data from the central bank showed on Friday.

The reserves rose by $2.98 billion in the reporting week, after having risen by a total of $29.45 billion in the previous six weeks.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervenes in the foreign exchange market to curb excess volatility in the rupee.

Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the RBI’s intervention as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves.

Foreign exchange reserves also include India’s reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.

India’s foreign exchange reserves rise for sixth week to record high

In the week that the foreign exchange data pertains, the rupee gained 0.1% against the dollar after rebounding from a record low of 83.4550 hit earlier in the week.

The domestic currency settled at 83.4125 on Friday, down 0.1% week-on-week.

----------------------------------------------------FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars)                            April 05     March 29                               2024         2024----------------------------------------------------Foreign currency assets      571,166      570,618Gold                          54,558       52,160SDRs                          18,170       18,145Reserve Tranche Position       4,669        4,660Total                        648,562      645,583----------------------------------------------------