India’s forex reserves hit over 21-month high; jump $4.47 billion to $620.4 billion: RBI

India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves continued to rise for the third consecutive week, adding $4.471 billion more in the week ending December 22, to hit an over 21-month high of $620.441 billion, according to the weekly data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, December 29.

In the previous reporting week, the forex kitty had swollen by $9.112 billion to $615.971 billion, making the quantum of increase one of the highest in a week. In the week before, the overall reserves had risen by $2.816 billion to $606.859 billion.

Also Read: India's April-November fiscal deficit at ₹9.06 lakh crore, exceeds 50% of full year budget estimates

In October 2021, the forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion. At over $620 billion, the reserves are just $25 billion off the peak. The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments since last year. This takes the year-to-date addition of forex reserves to $57.634 billion, according to central bank data.

For the week ended December 22, the foreign currency assets, which are the single largest component of the reserves, increased by $4.898 billion to $549.747 billion, according to RBI.

In the year so far, the monetary authority has added %51.257 billion to the foreign currency assets. 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.

However, gold reserves declined by $107 million to $47.474 billion during the reporting week while the special drawing rights (SDRs) were almost flat, adding just $4 million to $18.327 billion, said the central bank. The country's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also declined by $129 million to $4.894 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.

Separate government data on Friday showed that the government's fiscal deficit at the end of November stood at ₹9.06 lakh crore or 50.7 per cent of the full-year budget estimate. According to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the fiscal deficit -- the difference between expenditure and revenue -- was at ₹9,06,584 crore during the April-October period of 2023-24.