India’s Forex reserves up $1.5 bn, reclaim $400 bn mark

Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS) India’s foreign exchange (Forex) reserves kitty increased by $1.50 billion as on October 13, 2017, official data showed on Friday.

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly statistical supplement released on Friday showed that the overall Forex reserves rose to $400.29 billion from $398.79 billion reported for the week ended October 6.

India’s Forex reserves comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs) and the RBI’s position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Segment-wise, FCAs — the largest component of the Forex reserves — augmented by $1.47 billion to $375.27 billion during the week under review.

Besides the US dollar, FCAs consist of nearly 20-30 per cent of major global currencies. It also include investments in US Treasury bonds, bonds of other selected governments and deposits with foreign central and commercial banks.

The country’s gold reserves value was stagnant at $21.24 billion, whereas SDRs increased by $9.5 million to $1.50 billion.

Similarly, the country’s reserve position with the IMF edged higher by $14.3 million to $2.27 billion.