India’s foreign exchange reserves soared by $16.663 billion to touch a lifetime high of $633.558 billion in the week ended 27 August, mainly due to an increase in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) holdings, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed on Friday.
On 1 September, the central bank had said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made an allocation of SDR 12.57 billion (equivalent to around $17.86 billion at the latest exchange rate) to India on August 23, 2021.
SDR holdings are part of the foreign exchange reserves of a country. IMF makes the general SDR allocation to its members in proportion to their existing quotas in the Fund.
In the reporting week ended August 27, 2021, the country’s SDR holdings rose by $17.866 billion to $19.407 billion, according to weekly data released by the RBI today.
The country’s forex kitty had declined by $2.47 billion to $616.895 billion in the previous week ended August 20, 2021.
Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, dipped by $1.409 billion to $571.6 billion in the reporting week, the data 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 were up by $192 million to $37.441 billion.
India’s reserve position with the IMF rose by $14 million to $5.11 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee settled with a marginal gain of 4 paise at 73.02 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, even as the domestic equities continued their record-setting spree.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 73.05 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.01 and a low of 73.15.
It finally ended at 73.02 against the American currency, registering a gain of just 4 paise over its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 73.06 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.01% to 92.23.
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