India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $4.59 billion to $250.45 billion as on December 12, 2008, mostly reflecting fluctuation in the value of international currencies.
In rupee terms, reserves were down by Rs 938 crore to Rs 12,20,840 crore, according to data provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Foreign currency assets rose by $4.5 billion to $241.72 billion. The rise includes appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies like euro, yen and pound sterling. The rupee appreciated against the dollar during the reporting week.
V K Khanna, Union Bank of India’s General Manager (Treasury), said besides fluctuations in the value of the currency, some inflow was seen in form of non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits after RBI raised the ceiling on interest rate twice on these deposits.
Meanwhile, deposits for the banking system rose by 21.5 per cent (year-on-year) to Rs 35,54,888 crore as on December 5, 2008. The credit during the fortnight rose by Rs 9,409 crore (0.4 per cent) and went up by 26.4 per cent (y-o-y) to Rs 26,42,109 crore.