Forex reserves update

The purchase of 200-tonne of gold from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has boosted the value of the yellow metal in the country’s foreign exchange reserves by $6.7 billion to $17.5 billion. The latest data released by RBI, however, indicate that total foreign currency assets dipped $4.8 billion to $ 262.6 billion for the week ended November 6, largely on account of the gold purchase. Total foreign exchange reserves, including gold, SDR-reserve currency and capital reserves with IMF, rose by $1 billion during the week. However, as foreign currency assets comprise a host of non-dollar currencies expressed in dollars, the exact outflows may not be reflected in the weekly foreign exchange released by the central bank. Nearly 35% to 40% of the foreign currency assets is believed to be comprised in non-dollar assets, including the pound, yen, euro and the yuan.