India’s forex reserves rise $938 million to $682 billion despite RBI’s $5 billion swap

Mumbai: India’s foreign exchange reserves rose modestly by $938 million to $682 billion in the week ended May 29, despite a $5 billion rupee buy-sell swap carried out by the Reserve Bank of India during the period.

The limited increase suggests that the central bank may have sold dollars in the spot market to reduce pressure on the rupee, offsetting most of the dollars purchased through its clearing operation.

Foreign exchange assets, the largest component of reserves, increased by 3.1 billion dollars during the week, reaching 546 billion dollars. However, gold reserves decreased by 2.1 billion dollars to 112 billion dollars, partially limiting the overall increase in reserves.