RBI increases its foreign reserves to a record $645.6 billion
MUMBAI: The nation’s foreign currency reserves increased by about $3 billion in the week ending March 29 to reach a new high of $645.6 billion. Shaktikanta Das, governor of the RBI, said, “It is our focus to build a strong umbrella—a strong buffer in the form of a substantial quantum of forex reserves—which will help us when the cycle turns.” In addition, he said, the central bank was constantly purchasing gold as part of its deployment of foreign exchange reserves.
India’s external sector seems to be more resilient, according to the most recent statistics on a number of external risk indices. In his monetary policy announcement, Das said, “We continue to have confidence in our ability to easily satisfy our external funding obligations.
Das said that there were worries when the reserves fell to $524 billion due to the volatility of the foreign exchange market after the invasion of Ukraine. “At the time, we had said that we were using a sturdy umbrella we had assembled since it was pouring severely with rain. The reserves have now increased once more, said Das.
As of March, the RBI had $52.1 billion in gold reserves. In the fiscal year 2024, the value of gold in the RBI’s reserves increased by $7 billion. The RBI contributed 9 tonnes of the 39 tonnes that central banks added to the world’s gold holdings in January 2024, according to the World Gold Council. A new report claims that the RBI purchased 8.7 metric tonnes of gold in January, the most in almost two years. By the end of January, the central bank’s gold holdings had increased to a little over 812.3 metric tonnes. In addition, there has been a noticeable increase in the price of gold in recent months.
