India's Forex Reserves Rise To $674.66 Billion

India's foreign exchange reserves swelled to a high of $674.66 billion for the week ended Aug. 23, the Reserve Bank of India data showed on Friday. The country's forex kitty rose by $4.55 billion over the previous reporting week.

The rise comes after the reserve pile declined to $670.12 billion for the week ended Aug. 9. The forex kitty fell by $4.8 billion over the previous reporting week, reversing a three-week trend of increase.

Foreign investors have pumped in Rs 1.35 lakh crore into the country's debt and equity markets so far this year, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd. The capital flow has largely gone into the domestic debt market, thanks to India's inclusion in the JPMorgan Global Emerging Market Bond Index.

July has seen Rs 22,363 crore and Rs 32,365 crore make their way into Indian bonds and equities, respectively. While August so far has seen Rs 11,366 crore making their way into Indian bonds.

In dollar terms, foreign currency assets include the effect of the appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in foreign exchange reserves.

Gold reserves increased to $60.10 billion from $59.24 billion during the week.

India remains the fourth-highest foreign exchange reserve holder in the world. The reserves are equivalent to around 11 months of imports projected for fiscal 2025 and about 99% of total external debt outstanding at the end of March, the central bank said in its July bulletin.