The country’s forex reserves continued to scale new highs, with the week to September 9 adding $3.513 billion to the kitty, which hit a new life-time peak of $371.279 billion, RBI data showed today.
The reserves had increased by $989.5 million to $367.76 billion in the previous reporting week.
The reserves are more than sufficient to cover nearly 13 months of exports.
The surge indicates that new RBI Governor Urjit Patel is continuing with his predecessor Raghuram Rajan’s policy of building up the forex reserves. The three-year tenure of Rajan saw the RBI adding a net of $92 billion to the kitty.
Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, swelled by $3.509 billion to $345.747 billion for the week ended September 9, the Reserve Bank said.
FCAs, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and the yen held in the reserves.
Gold reserves, however, were unchanged at $21.64 billion at the end of the reporting week, the apex bank said.
The country’s special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund increased by $5.3 million to $1.493 billion, while the reserve position with the fund was down by $1.3 million to $2.395 billion, it added.
