Mumbai : Foreign exchange reserves jumped $1.17 billion to touch a new record high of $355.46 billion in the week to June 19, driven by a jump in foreign currency assets, according to RBI data.
Foreign currency assets, a major component of overall reserves, swelled $ 1.13 billion to $330.71 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.
According to an HSBC report, foreign exchange reserves are above traditional levels, but the country’s peculiar characteristics and experience in recent crises suggest that about $60 billion more could buffer sufficiently a prolonged global financial tightness. “We estimate an additional $60 billion of reserves, taking overall holdings to $ 420 billion, could take care of key vulnerabilities (such as unhedged external commercial debt, short-term external debt and portfolio outflows),” HSBC India Chief Economist Pranjul Bhandari said in a research note. HSBC said India had lost $ 20 billion of foreign exchange reserves over the “taper tantrum” months of 2013.
