India’s Forex reserves up $1.5 billion

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 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 includes investments in the 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.