New Delhi: India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $8.053 billion in the week ended January 23 — reaching an all-time high of $709.413 billion, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.
The previous all-time high for the country’s foreign exchange reserves was $704.89 billion, registered in September 2024.
According to the RBI data, the value of Foreign Currency Assets (FCA), the largest component of the reserves, increased by $2.367 billion to $562.885 billion, in the week ended January 23.
The value of gold held in the reserves increased by $5.635 billion to $123.088 billion. The value of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) increased by $33 million to $18.737 billion. The Reserve Position with the IMF increased by $18 million to $4.703 billion, as per the Central bank data.
Last week, the foreign exchange reserves had increased by $14.167 billion to reach $701.360 billion.
Meanwhile, India remains the world’s largest recipient of remittances, with inflows reaching $135.4 billion in FY25, supporting stability in the external account, according to the Economic Survey 2025-26. India has consistently attracted sizeable gross investment inflows, amounting to 18.5 per cent of GDP in FY25, even amid tightening global financial conditions.
According to UNCTAD data, India remained the largest recipient of gross FDI inflows in South Asia and surpassed major Asian peers such as Indonesia and Vietnam. India ranked fourth globally in Greenfield investment announcements in 2024, with over 1,000 projects and emerged as the largest destination for Greenfield digital investments between 2020-24, attracting $114 billion.
In April-November 2025, gross FDI inflows strengthened to $64.7 billion, compared with $55.8 billion in April-November 2024. In terms of adequacy, the reserves are sufficient to cover around 11 months of goods imports and about 94 per cent of the external debt outstanding at the end of September 2025, providing a comfortable liquidity buffer, the Survey noted.
(IANS)
