India's Foreign Exchange Reserves Surge $44.9 Billion to All-Time High of $785.7 Billion

Key facts

• India's foreign exchange reserves surged a record $44.903 billion in the week to September 4 to $785.706 billion, an all-time high, making India the fourth largest holder of forex reserves after China, Japan and Switzerland.
• Foreign currency assets rose $47.498 billion to $648.168 billion, while gold reserves contracted $2.594 billion to $34.944 billion.
• The reserves have risen for 10 consecutive weeks with a cumulative gain of $119 billion.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold $7.7 billion in the spot market in August to support the rupee, while mobilising $136.377 billion through a special dollar-rupee swap facility in about two-and-a-half months.
• Inflows into foreign currency non-resident bank (FCNR-B) deposits alone totalled $127.226 billion.
• The higher-than-expected inflows prompted the RBI to close the FCNR-B window on August 31 instead of September 30; the FCNR-B swap facility ended September 11, while the dollar-mobilisation scheme through external commercial borrowing and overseas foreign currency borrowing continues till December 31.
• RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the inflows stabilised the foreign exchange market and would create additional revenue for the RBI through interest earnings on investments of the additional flows.