The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) purchased a net total of $6.93 billion worth of foreign currency in July, according to its monthly bulletin. The RBI bought $23.56 billion and sold $16.63 billion of foreign currency in July.
The central bank had recorded a net sale of $2.10 billion in the spot market in June. It had net bought $3.47 billion in July 2023. In the previous financial year, the RBI net bought $41.27 billion.
The RBI’s net outstanding forward sales by the end of July stood at $9.10 billion, against $15.83 billion in June. The headline foreign exchange reserves, excluding the forward book, stood at $689 billion in the week ended September 13, data showed.
The total foreign reserves rose by $223 million for the week ended September 13 to $689.46 billion—a new high on the back of a rise in gold reserves. Foreign currency assets decreased by $515 million. The reserves are equivalent to more than 12 months of imports for 2023–24 and more than 103 per cent of total external debt outstanding at end-March 2024.
India’s foreign exchange reserves expanded by $67 billion so far in 2024, the second highest among major foreign exchange reserves holding countries, after China.
First Published: Sep 20 2024 | 7:42 PM IST
