Forex reserves climb $11.9 billion to all-time high of $534.5 billion

MUMBAI: The country's foreign exchange reserves hit an all-time high of $534.568 billion after surging by massive $11.938 billion in the week ended July 31, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.
While announcing the monetary policy on Thursday, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said the reserves at $534.6 billion are equivalent to 13.4 months of imports.
So far in FY2020-21 (up to July 31), the reserves have risen by $56.8 billion, he had said.
In the week ended July 24, reserves had increased by $4.993 billion to $522.630 billion. The reserves had crossed the half-a-trillion mark for the first time in the week ended June 5.
In the week ended July 31, the reserves rose due to gains in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves.
FCAs were up by $10.347 billion to $490.829 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed.
Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
Gold reserves were up by $1.525 billion in the reporting week to $37.625 billion, the RBI data showed.
The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by $12 million to $1.475 billion. The country's reserve position with the IMF also increased by $54 million to $4.639 billion during the reporting week, the data showed.