India’s foreign exchange reserves rose sharply by USD 14.167 billion in the week ended January 16, reaching USD 701.360 billion, driven by a jump in both gold reserves and foreign currency assets, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s latest Weekly Statistical Supplement. This followed a marginal rise in the previous week.
Over the past few weeks, the forex kitty has largely been on an upward trend.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves are now hovering close to their all-time high of USD 704.89 billion, recorded in September 2024.
For the reported week, India’s foreign currency assets (FCA) — the largest component of the forex reserves — stood at USD 560.518 billion, up USD 9.652 billion.
RBI data showed that gold reserves rose to USD 117.454 billion, an increase of USD 4.623 billion from the previous week.
The price of the safe-haven asset gold has been on a sharp upward trend in recent months, possibly amid heightened global uncertainties and robust investment demand.
Following its latest monetary policy review meeting in early December, the RBI said the country’s foreign exchange reserves were sufficient to cover more than 11 months of merchandise imports.
Overall, India’s external sector remains resilient, and the RBI is confident it can comfortably meet external financing requirements.
In 2025 so far, the forex kitty has increased by about USD 56 billion, according to the data.
In 2024, reserves rose by just over USD 20 billion.
In 2023, India added around USD 58 billion to its foreign exchange reserves, in contrast to a cumulative decline of USD 71 billion in 2022.
Foreign exchange reserves, or FX reserves, are assets held by a nation’s central bank or monetary authority, primarily in reserve currencies such as the US dollar, with smaller portions in the euro, Japanese yen and pound sterling.
The RBI often intervenes in the forex market by managing liquidity, including selling dollars, to prevent a steep depreciation of the rupee. It strategically buys dollars when the rupee is strong and sells when it weakens.
(ANI)
