Forex kitty rises $4.52 bn to $658.8 bn

Mumbai: The country’s forex reserves jumped by $4.529 billion to $658.8 billion during the week ended March 21, the RBI said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had increased by $305 million to $654.271 billion.

This is the third consecutive week of rise in the kitty, which has been on a declining trend recently due to revaluation, along with forex market interventions by the RBI to help reduce volatilities in the rupee.

The forex reserves had increased to an all-time high of $704.885 billion in September 2024.

For the week ended March 21, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $1.669 billion to $558.856 billion, the data released on Friday showed.

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 by $2.883 billion to $77.275 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by $22 million to $18.24 billion, the apex bank said.

India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $2 million at $4.429 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.