India's forex reserves rose $ 2.8 billlion to $ 606.9 billion last week: RBI

India's overall foreign exchange reserves rose $ 2.816 billion to $ 606.859 billion in the week that ended on December 8, 2023, data released by the Reserve Bank of India on Friday showed.

India's foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, rose $ 3.089 billion to $ 536.699 billion, the central bank's weekly statistical data showed. Gold reserves during the week, however, declined by $ 199 million to $ 47.130 billion.

Prior to December 8 week, India's total foreign exchange reserves rose by $ 6.107 billion to $ 604.042 billion.

In October 2021, the country's foreign exchange reserves touched an all-time high of about $ 645 billion. Much of the decline since then can be attributed to a rise in the cost of imported goods in 2022. Also, the relative fall in forex reserves was largely because of the RBI's intervention in the market to defend the subsequent depreciation in rupee against a surging US dollar.

The RBI closely monitors the foreign exchange markets and intervenes only to maintain orderly market conditions by containing excessive volatility in the exchange rate, without reference to any pre-determined target level or band.

(With input from ANI)