Forex Reserve

At the interbank foreign exchange market, rupee ended at 79.71, as against its 79.90 close on the previous trading session, against the US dollar. The dollar index, which gauges the the strength of greenback against the basket of six major currencies, was at 109.500. On Wednesday, Brent crude oil price in the international market fell sharply on worries of a global economic recession and lower fuel demand.

"Market participants vary as the central bank's dollar supply at one end limits the downside while the broad-based strength in the dollar pushes the rupee lower. However, one should always keep in mind The trend is your friend -- and any dip in USDINR will be an opportunity to buy as long as it trades above 79 while on the higher side one can expect a rally above 80.10," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Out of this, 53.2 per cent of external debt was denominated in US dollars, the Indian rupee denominated debt was estimated at 31.2 per cent and was the second largest, according to the status report on India's external debt 2021-22, released by the Finance Ministry on Monday.

In the week prior, during the week ending August 12, the India's foreign exchange reserves had declined by $2.238 to $570.74 billion. The reserve had declined every single week barring the increase in the last week of July. It has fallen for 20 of the 26 weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.

The country's foreign exchange reserves rose by $2.315 billion to $573.875 billion during the week ending June 29, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) weekly supplementary statistical data. "India's foreign exchange reserves, supplemented by net forward assets, provide insurance against global spillovers. Our umbrella remains strong," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

The foreign currency assets (FCAs), the largest component of the forex reserves, got negatively impacted due to the rising US dollar strength against other global currencies. The FCAs consist of global currencies and securities such as US treasury bonds. As per the RBI data, the FCAs edged lower by $10.727 billion to $539.727 billion.

On a weekly basis, FCAs, the largest component of the forex reserves, edged lower by $3.202 billion to $550.454 billion. As per RBI data, India's overall forex reserves fell to $617.648 billion from $619.678 billion reported for the previous week. The country's forex reserves consist of FCAs, gold reserves, SDRs, and the country's reserve position with the IMF.

Devaluation of gold and other asset classes pulled India's foreign exchange reserves lower by $2.597 billion during the week that ended on March 18. Reserve Bank of India data showed that India's forex reserves fell to $619.678 billion from $622.275 billion reported for the previous week. The country's forex reserves consist of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, SDRs, and the country's reserve position with the IMF.

India's foreign exchange reserves have plunged by over $9.64 billion during the week that ended on March 11. Accordingly, the Reserve Bank of India data showed that India's forex reserves fell to $622.275 billion from $631.920 billion reported the previous week. According to analysts, a likely intervention by the Reserve Bank of India to arrest the sharp fall in rupee value against the US dollar depleted the reserve.

India's foreign exchange reserves rose by $394 million during the week ended March 4. The Reserve Bank of India's forex reserves rose to $631.920 billion from $631.527 billion reported for February 25. The country's forex reserves comprise foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, SDRs, and the country's reserve position with the IMF.