India’s forex reserves rise by $5.25 billion to hit fresh record-high of $689 billion, volume up over $65 billion YTD

India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves rose $5.248 billion to $689.235 billion as of September 6, compared to $683.987 billion in the previous data release at the end of August, according to data collected from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) website on Friday, September 13.

The central bank's data showed that the foreign currency asset, which is the major contributor to the forex reserves, increased $5.107 billion to $604.144 billion as of September 6, compared to $599.037 billion as of August 30, according to the RBI data.

The forex reserves are stated in the RBI report in the United States dollar; the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the pound, euro, and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

The RBI data also showed a $129 million increase in Gold reserves to $61.988 billion in the latest filing, compared to $61.859 billion in the August end filing. Gold is the second largest contributor to India's forex reserve.

There are two other elements that contribute to the foreign exchange reserves: Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and the Reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The SDRs showed an increase of $4 million to $18.472 billion as of September 6, compared to its previous level of $18.468 billion in August end, according to the RBI data release.

India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose $9 million to $4.631 billion as of the latest data filing, compared to $4.622 billion in the previous week's data, highlighted the RBI in the data release.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervenes in the foreign exchange market to keep the Indian rupee volatility in check. The change in the foreign currency assets is caused by RBI's intervention as well as the appreciation and depreciation of the foreign currencies held in the form of the reserves.