India’s Foreign Exchange Reserves hit Record High at USD 333 billion

As per the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India, the foreign exchange reserves of India has raised to USD 333.169 billion in second week of February. The data confirmed that India’s FOREX reserve has risen USD 14 billion in seven weeks since Jan 2, 2015 to $319 billion.

The record high FOREX Reserve was helped by a pick-up in exports, surge of liquidity in Europe, China and Japan and also the reduction in India’s import bill due to the plunge in crude oil prices ($57/Barrel on Feb third week). India saves about $1 billion for every $1 drop in global crude oil prices. India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund increased to USD 1.639 billion.

Knowledge is Wealth

• Foreign-exchange reserves are only the foreign-currency deposits held by national central banks and monetary authorities. 
• The reserve includes gold reserves, special drawing rights and International Monetary Fund reserve position. 
• China has the highest FOREX reserve in the world, followed by Japan and Saudi Arabia. 
• India stands in IX position in the FOREX Reserve. 
• Special Drawing Rights – an international reserve asset created by the IMF in 1969. Its value is based on a basket of key international currencies (US Dollars, Euro, Pound Sterling, and Japanese Yen) reviewed by IMF on a five-yearly basis.