MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s foreign exchange reserves halted a seven-week losing streak and rose to $629.56 billion as of Jan. 24, coming off near 11-month lows, data from the central bank showed on Friday, as pressure on the rupee eased.
The reserves rose by $5.58 billion in the reported week, the biggest increase in four months. They had fallen cumulatively by more than $34 billion in the prior seven weeks.
Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the central bank’s intervention in the forex market as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervenes on both sides of the forex market to curb undue volatility in the rupee.
The rupee had risen 0.5% and logged its biggest weekly rise in more than a year in the week to Jan. 24, helped by relief in Asian forex as U.S. President Donald Trump did not levy tariffs immediately upon taking office.
The rupee and other emerging market currencies have been under pressure amid concerns that Trump’s tariff plans and sanctions on countries could disrupt global trade.
Outflows from India’s equity and debt markets have also kept the rupee under pressure. The RBI, however, has intervened in the forex market to keep volatility in check.
The rupee hit a low of 86.6525 on Friday, before ending the session little changed at 86.6050. It declined by 0.5% week-on-week.
The forex reserves also include India’s reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars)
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Jan 24 Jan 17
2025 2025
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Foreign currency assets 537,891 533,133
Gold 69,651 68,947
SDRs 17,861 17,782
Reserve Tranche Position 4,154 4,122
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Total 629,557 623,983
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Source text: (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx)
(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
