India's foreign exchange reserves climb to $675.16bn in July

Mumbai – In its latest weekly bulletin, the Reserve Bank of India disclosed that India’s foreign exchange reserves rose to $675.16 billion as of July 10, an increase of $96.4 million from the previous week’s $674.19 billion level.

The surge restores the reserve stock after it had slipped in the preceding reporting period. The foreign currency assets segment, which forms the bulk of the reserves, posted a gain of $93 million, taking the FCA balance to $546.51 billion.

Gold reserves also saw a modest rise of $24 million, achieving a total of $105.23 billion. The country’s Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation with the International Monetary Fund increased to $18.626 billion, while the IMF reserve tranche position grew to $4.793 billion.

The reserves peaked at a record $728.494 billion for the week ending February 27. Subsequent geopolitical strains in the Middle East pressured the rupee, prompting the RBI to intervene by selling dollars to mitigate volatility. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the nation on May 11, urged citizens to cut down on unnecessary overseas travel, reduce fuel consumption and avoid buying gold for a year to safeguard the foreign exchange buffer.

The RBI confirmed that it keeps a constant watch over forex market movements and will step in as required to ensure stability, clarifying that its objective is not to anchor a specific currency rate but to maintain an orderly market environment.