Forex reserves up 9.37% in 2009-10.

Mumbai: Even as the country’s foreign-exchange reserves have risen by $2.1 billion to $279.1 billion in the week ended April 2, in the last fiscal (2009-10),the reserves have gone up by almost 9% or $23.90 billion(from $255.20 billion to $279.10 billion) said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its weekly statistical supplement released on Friday.

During the last fiscal the Bombay Stock Exchange or the Sensex has risen sharply by almost double to 17,558 points. While the rupee has appreciated by 10 % (from Rs 50.35 tp Rs 44.91) during 2009-10 it has appreciated by 5.1% during the last quarter of 2009-10.

However at the same time, forex reserves between January and March 2010 have dropped by almost $4 billion which implies that there could have been several interventions by the central bank in the forex market to prevent sharp appreciation of the local currency against the dollar. During this period (Jan-March 2010), the Sensex has remained flat at 17,558 points.

Foreign institutional investors have pumped in nearly $9.26 billion (both in equity and debt) in the last quarter of 2009-10 into the economy leading to appreciation in the rupee.

While foreign-currency assets increased by $1.98 billion to $254.7 billion, gold reserves were unchanged at $17.9 billion as on 2 April, 2010, the RBI showed. During this period, special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund rose by $10 million to $5 billion while reserves with the IMF increased by $3 million to $1.38 billion.

Source : Financial Express