India’s foreign exchange reserves rose $1.726 billion to $487.039 billion during the week to May 15, just short of its life-time high of $487.238 billion. After the reserves reached its previous lifetime high in the week to March 6, it fell by $11.983 billion in the week ended March 20, the highest fall since the global financial crisis of 2008, and subsequently increased.
Compared to end-March 2020, the forex reserves have risen by as much as $9.232 billion. Since the previous week, foreign currency assets (FCA), which form a key component of reserves, grew by $1.122 billion to $448.67 billion over the past week.
Gold reserves rose by $616 million to $32.906 billion. Special drawing rights (SDR) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by $2 million to $1.425 billion.
SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF and allocated to its members in proportion of their quota. The reserve position in the IMF fell by $13 million to $4.038 billion, according to RBI data.