MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s foreign exchange reserves rose to a near six-month high of $573.7 billion in the week through Jan. 20, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statistical supplement showed on Friday.
This is the second consecutive week that the country’s reserves have risen. In the week to Jan. 13, the reserves stood at $572 billion. The RBI has intervened to buy dollars as the Indian rupee has stabilised, according to forex market participants. This, coupled with valuation changes, adds to the central bank’s forex reserves.
The rupee appreciated 0.3% against the dollar in the week to Jan. 20, its second consecutive weekly rise, and traded in a range of 81.0675 to 81.8925.
Separately, the central bank’s forward dollar holdings jumped in November, according to data released earlier this month. The RBI’s net forward dollar holdings stood at $8.49 billion as of end-November, compared with $241 million as of end-October.
(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Savio D’Souza)
