RBI MPC: India's forex reserves at an all-time high of $645.6 bn as of March 29

India's foreign exchange reserves stood at an all-time high of $645.6 billion as of March 29, said Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday while announcing the decisions taken by the Monetary Policy Committee.

The reserves increased by $2.95 billion.

Latest data on various external vulnerability indicators suggest improved resilience of India’s external sector, said the RBI Guv and added, "We remain confident of meeting our external financing requirements comfortably."


We are building gold reserves that is part of our forex reserve deployment, said the RBI Guv.

The Indian rupee was most stable in FY24 among major economies, Das said. As compared to the previous three years, the INR exhibited the lowest volatility in 2023-24.

The relative stability of the INR reflects India’s sound macroeconomic fundamentals, financial stability and improvements in the external position, Das said.

According to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI, Foreign currency assets (FCAs) surged by $2.35 billion to $570.62 billion. Expressed in dollar terms, the FCAs include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Gold reserves rose by $673 million to $52.16 billion, whereas SDRs were down by $73 million to $18.15 billion.

Reserve position in the IMF decreased by $2 million to $4.66 billion.

Earlier, forex expanded by $140 million to $642.63 billion for the week closing on March 22.

Typically, the RBI, from time to time, intervenes in the market through liquidity management, including through the selling of dollars, with a view to preventing a steep depreciation in the rupee.

The RBI closely monitors the foreign exchange markets and intervenes only to maintain orderly market conditions by containing excessive volatility in the exchange rate, without reference to any pre-determined target level or band.