India's Forex Reserves Near $700B as Gold Holdings Surge

The Reserve Bank of India reported that the country's foreign exchange reserves rose by $6.295 billion in the week ended May 8, reaching $696.988 billion. The increase follows a recent decline caused by a West‑Asia crisis that pressured the rupee and prompted the RBI to sell dollars in the market.

Gold reserves contributed most to the rebound, with the value of the gold stock climbing $5.637 billion to $120.853 billion. Special Drawing Rights rose by $84 million to $18.873 billion, and the IMF position improved by $12 million to $4.875 billion. Earlier this year, the reserves hit a record $728.494 billion on Feb 27.

The data indicate that higher gold holdings are helping stabilize India’s external asset buffer amid external currency market turbulence.