Gold reserves rise by $360 million; India’s forex reserves stand at $702.57 billion

NEW DELHI — India’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $702.57 billion as of September 19, with gold reserves rising by $360 million to $92.78 billion, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

Foreign currency assets, the largest component of the reserves, were valued at $586.15 billion during the week.

The reserves also include special drawing rights (SDRs) and India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which stood at $18.88 billion and $4.76 billion, respectively.

SDRs increased by $105 million, while the IMF reserve position rose by $2 million during the week.

In the previous week, India’s forex reserves had surged by $4.69 billion to $702.9 billion, while the reserves had reached a record high of $704.885 billion at the end of September 2024.

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The RBI periodically intervenes in the foreign exchange market through liquidity operations, including the sale of dollars, to manage volatility in the rupee.

Officials have emphasised that such interventions are aimed at ensuring orderly market conditions rather than targeting a specific exchange rate.

Meanwhile, in the previous week, the foreign currency assets, which form the biggest part of the reserves, climbed by $2.5 billion to $587.04 billion.

These assets include major global currencies such as the euro, pound and yen, and their dollar value also reflects changes in exchange rates.

Gold reserves followed the suit and gave a strong push in the previous week, rising by $2.1 billion to reach $92.42 billion.

However, reserves have been rising steadily in recent weeks. They had already crossed the $698 billion mark in the week ended September 5, following a $4.03 billion jump, after increasing by $3.51 billion in the previous week.

According to analysts, the strong buffer close to record highs will help India cushion external shocks, support the rupee, and provide confidence to global investors, especially amid uncertain global economic conditions.