Foreign-exchange reserves of India

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The foreign exchange reserves of India are holdings of cash, bank deposits, bonds, and other financial assets denominated in currencies other than India's national currency, the Indian rupee. The foreign-exchange reserves are managed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the Indian government, and the main component is foreign currency assets.

Contents

Foreign-exchange reserves act as the first line of defense for India in case of economic slowdown, but acquisition of reserves has its own costs. [1] Foreign exchange reserves facilitate external trade and payment and promote orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India. [2]

India's total foreign exchange (forex) reserves stand at around US$704.89 billion on 27 September 2024, with the foreign currency assets (FCA) component at around US$616 billion, gold reserves at around US$65.7 billion, special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of around US$18.547 billion and around US$4.3 billion reserve position in the IMF, as per the RBI's weekly statistical supplement published on 08 September 2023. [3] [4] The Economic Survey of India in 2014-15 stated India could target foreign exchange reserves of US$750 billion-US$1 Trillion. [5]

India's foreign exchange reserves are mainly composed of the United States Dollar in the forms of United States government bonds and institutional bonds. [6] [7] with nearly 7.34% of forex reserves in gold. The FCAs also include investments in United States Treasury bonds, bonds of other selected governments and deposits with foreign central and commercial banks. As of September 2021, India holds fourth largest foreign-exchange reserves in the world following Switzerland. [8] [9]

Composition

The Reserve Bank of India Act and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 set the legal provisions for governing the foreign exchange reserves. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) accumulates foreign currency reserves by purchasing from authorized dealers in open market operations. Foreign exchange reserves of India act as a cushion against rupee volatility once global interest rates start rising. [10]

The Foreign Exchange Reserves of India consists of below four categories; [11] [12]

  1. Foreign Currency Assets - Total FCA till March 2021 was $536.69 billion out of which $359.87 billion is invested in overseas securities, $153.39 billion is deposited with other central banks and $23.42 (4.36 percent of total FCA) billion is deposited with overseas commercial banks. [13]
  2. Gold - As of March 2021, the RBI held 695.31 metric tonnes of gold. 403.01 metric tonnes of which is in custody of Bank of England and Bank for International Settlements. 292.30 tonnes of gold is held domestically. [13]
  3. Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)
  4. Reserve Tranche Position

Statistics

Foreign Exchange Reserves of India Indian forex reserves.png
Foreign Exchange Reserves of India

See also

India related
Global lists and other nations

Related Research Articles

Special drawing rights are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). SDRs are units of account for the IMF, and not a currency per se. They represent a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged. SDRs were created in 1969 to supplement a shortfall of preferred foreign exchange reserve assets, namely gold and U.S. dollars. The ISO 4217 currency code for special drawing rights is XDR and the numeric code is 960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reserve currency</span> Currencies held by monetary authorities as part of their foreign exchange reserves

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reserve Bank of India</span> Central Bank of India

The Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. Owned by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, it is responsible for the control, issue and maintaining supply of the Indian rupee. It also manages the country's main payment systems and works to promote its economic development. Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (BRBNM) is a specialised division of RBI through which it prints and mints Indian currency notes (INR) in two of its currency printing presses located in Mysore and Salboni. The RBI, along with the Indian Banks' Association, established the National Payments Corporation of India to promote and regulate the payment and settlement systems in India. Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation was established by RBI as one of its specialized division for the purpose of providing insurance of deposits and guaranteeing of credit facilities to all Indian banks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian rupee</span> The Official currency of Republic of India

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pakistani rupee</span> Currency of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign exchange market</span> Global decentralized trading of international currencies

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Foreign exchange reserves are cash and other reserve assets such as gold and silver held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, influence the foreign exchange rate of its currency, and to maintain confidence in financial markets. Reserves are held in one or more reserve currencies, nowadays mostly the United States dollar and to a lesser extent the euro.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the rupee</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign-exchange reserves of China</span> Chinas holdings of foreign debt and currencies

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Currency intervention</span> Monetary policy operation

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The 1991 Indian economic crisis was an economic crisis in India resulting from a balance of payments deficit due to excess reliance on imports and other external factors. India's economic problems started worsening in 1985 as imports swelled, leaving the country in a twin deficit: the Indian trade balance was in deficit at a time when the government was running on a huge fiscal deficit.

The external debt of India is the debt the country owes to foreign creditors. The debtors can be the Union government, state governments, corporations or citizens of India. The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, foreign governments, or international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lankan economic crisis (2019–present)</span> Ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka

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