India's foreign exchange reserves Milestone: India's foreign exchange reserves have crossed the $700 billion (around Rs 58,80,000 crore) mark for the first time. It has increased by $12.6 billion during the last week on September 27. India has now become the fourth economy in the world to cross the $700 billion foreign exchange reserves mark along with China, Japan, and Switzerland.

According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ), the $12.6 billion hike is also the biggest weekly increase since July 14, 2023. In comparison, the total reserves had risen by $2.8 billion to $692.3 billion in the previous reporting week. Stable oil prices and inflows into the country's stocks and bonds have pushed the foreign exchange reserves to $705 billion.

When did the foreign exchange reserves cross $100 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves first crossed the $100 billion mark in December 2003 and it took more than three years to add the next $100 billion. However, the third $100 billion ($200 billion to $300 billion) was achieved in less than a year and the reserves crossed $300 billion on 29 February 2008. According to data from Bloomberg, the increase from $200 billion to $300 billion was the fastest, taking place in about ten months, while the increase from $300 billion to $400 billion took more than nine years.

value of Indian currency against the dollar

Normally, the RBI intervenes in the foreign exchange market to prevent undue volatility in the currency. To reduce excessive volatility in the rupee, the central bank frequently buys and sells currency in the market. However, large foreign exchange reserves do not necessarily indicate a strong rupee; the local currency closed near a record low of 83.98 against the US dollar in Friday's session.