The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) forex reserves touched a record high of $ 709.4 billion, showed the central bank data released on Friday.
The forex reserves went up by $ 8.05 billion in the week ended January 23 with gold reserves up by $ 5.6 billion and foreign currency assets up by $ 2.37 billion.
The gold prices were up 8.5% to $ 4,987 ounce during the week, which helped pushing up the reserves.
Past Performance Peak
In September 2024, forex reserves previously stood high at $704.89 billion.
“Reserves also climbed after the RBI settled a matured NDF (Non-Deliverable Forward) position on January 16 in the OTC market, worth around $3 billion,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
Support for Rupee
Dealers said that the RBI’s large forex reserves give a comfort to the market as it shows that they have enough reserves to support the rupee.
The domestic currency has been under pressure since a while due to trade uncertainties and persistent outflows. It closed at record low of 91.99 on Friday.