Mumbai: The forex reserves continued to scale new highs, expanding by a whopping USD 7.26 billion to hit a new all-time high of USD 351.87 billion for the week ended May 1, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
This highest-ever accretion in recent years happened amidst the continued rise of the US dollar against all major currencies including the rupee, which plunged to a 20-month low of 64.23 against the dollar yesterday. However, the unit recovered to 63.94 on Friday.
This gain also comes amidst a massive rout in the stock and bond markets, where foreign funds were net sellers since mid-April having been spooked by the MAT controversy. Since May alone FIIs dumped stocks worth more than Rs 6,500 crore and a similar quantum of bonds.
The forex reserves had shot up by USD 1.405 billion to touch record USD 344.605 billion in the previous reporting week.
The foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, was the primary factor which helped the overall kitty this reporting week.
The currency assets were up USD 6.89 billion to USD 327.15 billion for the week ended May 1, the RBI data showed on Friday.
Foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation and depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and the yen, held in the reserves.
After remaining stable for multiple weeks, the country's gold reserves were up by USD 297.7 million to USD 19.33 billion, the apex bank said.
The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund were up USD 57.6 million to USD 4.063 billion, while the country's reserve position with the Fund also increased by 18.7 million to USD 1.317 billion, the data showed.
