Forex kitty swells $689m to hit $163bn

Foreign exchange reserves rose $689m during the week ended July 22. According to the latest figures released by the RBI in its weekly statistical supplement (WSS) forex reserves, including gold and SDR went up $689m to touch $163.3bn.

While foreign currency assets rose $682m, the value of SDR in reserves went up $7m, reports Our Bureau in Mumbai.

The value of gold and SDR in reserves remained unchanged during the week. Interestingly, forex reserves have been rising despite volatile stock markets, which often triggers heavy selling by FIIs.

The RBI in fact bought $504m from the market in May, according to the central bank’s latest monthly bulletin when FIIs were actually signing as stock markets indices dipped sharply during the month.

In the debt market, corporates are resorting aggressively to commercial paper (CP) to meet their working capital requirements. They raised Rs 3,389 crore during the fortnight ended July 15, taking the outstanding stock of CPs to Rs 21,237 crore. The interest rate on CPs marginally dipped to 6.25-8.3% as against 6.59 to 9.25% in the previous fortnight.