India's forex reserves hit record $729 bn after $12.4 bn weekly jump

India’s foreign exchange reserves surged by 12.4 billion US dollars (USD) to a record high of 729.3 billion US dollars during the week ended August 21. According to the Reserve Bank of India data, Foreign currency assets, the largest component of the reserves, increased by 9.4 billion USD to 591.3 billion USD during the week. Gold reserves added 2.8 billion USD to 114.2 billion US dollars. Special Drawing Rights rose by 112 million USD to 18.8 billion USD. Country’s reserve positions with the International Monetary Fund added 26 million USD to around 4.9 billion USD.
Forex reserves remain comfortable, covering more than 11 months of goods imports and 94 per cent of external debt outstanding at the end of March 2026. Foreign currency assets (FCAs), the largest component of the reserves, rose by $9.48 billion to $591.33 billion during the week. FCAs, expressed in dollar terms, also reflect the impact of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies, such as the euro, pound and yen, held in the reserves.
In June, ​India unveiled a raft of measures to boost dollar inflows, including ​discounted hedging facilities for overseas borrowings by state-run firms and banks, ⁠and a free-of-cost hedging facility for banks to raise overseas FX deposits. The Reserve ​Bank of India received nearly $73 billion under these schemes between June 5 and August ​21, including about $65 billion from non-resident Indian deposits.The scale of inflows prompted the central bank to bring forward the closure of its deposit hedging facility by a month to August end.

(Business Correspondent)