India's forex reserves surge $4.7B to hit $693.6B
What's the story
India's foreign exchange reserves have increased by $4.7 billion to reach $693.6 billion in the week ending August 8, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has showed. The rise is largely due to revaluation gains from a weaker dollar and rising gold prices, partially offset by RBI's market intervention, including $5 billion in FX swaps.
Market dynamics
Reserves had dropped by $9.3B earlier
In the week ending August 1, India's forex reserves had dropped by $9.3 billion. This was mainly due to the central bank's efforts to prevent the rupee from depreciating against the dollar.
Reserve breakdown
Foreign currency assets and gold reserves
The RBI's data shows that foreign currency assets, which make up over 84% of the total reserves, increased by $2.4 billion in the week ending August 8. These assets are held as a multi-currency portfolio of major currencies such as US dollar, Euro, British pound, and Japanese yen but expressed in dollar terms. Gold reserves also increased by $2.2 billion to $86.2 billion during this period.