India's foreign exchange reserves reach new record high of US$ 692.3 billion

Last week the foreign exchange stood at US $ 689.458 billion. Since January this year, an increase of about Rs 69 billion has been seen in the foreign exchange fund.

This buffer of foreign exchange reserves helps to protect domestic economic activity from global shocks.

According to the latest data from the apex bank, India's foreign currency assets (FCA), the largest component of foreign exchange reserves, stood at US$605.686 billion.

According to Friday's data, gold reserves currently stand at US $ 61.988 billion.

According to estimates, India's foreign exchange reserves are now sufficient to cover approximately one year's estimated imports.

In calendar year 2023, India added about US$58 billion to its foreign exchange reserves.

In contrast, India's foreign exchange reserves see a cumulative decline of US$71 billion in 2022. Foreign exchange reserves, or foreign exchange reserves (FX reserves), are assets held by a country's central bank or monetary authority.

Foreign exchange reserves are generally held in reserve currencies, usually the US dollar and to a lesser extent the euro, Japanese yen and pound sterling.

The RBI closely monitors the foreign exchange markets and intervenes only to maintain orderly market conditions, aiming to contain excessive volatility in the exchange rate without reference to any pre-determined target level or band.

RBI often intervenes in the market through liquidity management including sale of dollars to prevent sharp fall of rupee.

A decade ago, the Indian rupee was one of the most volatile currencies in Asia. However, since then it has become one of the most stable.

This transformation is a testament to India's growing economic strength and the effective management of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

RBI has been strategically buying dollars when the rupee strengthens and selling it when the rupee weakens. This intervention smoothes out large fluctuations in the value of the rupee, thereby contributing to its stability. The less volatile rupee makes Indian assets more attractive to investors, as they can expect better performance with more predictability.