India's forex reserves climb $2.49 billion to $719.5 billion, gold holdings surge to $104.8 billion
Mumbai, Nov 13
India's foreign exchange reserves rose by $2.49 billion to reach $719.547 billion in the week ended November 6, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India on Friday.
This increase follows consecutive weeks of decline, during which the reserves had slipped from $722.3 billion in the week ended October 17 to $717.057 billion by October 30.
The uptick in reserves was primarily driven by a sharp rise in gold holdings, which surged by $2.205 billion to $104.796 billion during the week, the RBI data showed.
Foreign currency assets, which form the largest component of India's forex reserves, also rose by $232 million to $591.350 billion.
These assets are influenced by changes in the value of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound, and yen that are held in the reserves.
India's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund climbed by $52 million to $18.610 billion, while the country's reserve position with the IMF increased by $1 million to $4.791 billion.
In rupee terms, the country's total foreign exchange reserves stood at Rs 67,58,986 crore as of November 6.
Notably, the weekly increase in dollar terms came even as the reserves declined by Rs 49,742 crore in rupee terms, as per the data.
India's forex reserves had previously touched an all-time high of $785.7 billion in the week ended September 4, following significant foreign currency inflows through a special concessional swap scheme for diaspora deposits.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, the central bank eased the foreign exchange reporting requirements for small exporters and importers of services.
Under the amended Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, individual service exporters will be deemed to have submitted the Export Declaration Form (EDF) once they provide the required payment-related information to their authorised dealer bank for crediting the proceeds to their accounts.
For exporters other than resident individuals, the same treatment will apply if the inward remittance for the service is not more than Rs 10 lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency.
— IANS
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