Foreign exchange reserves surged by $211 million to $ 46.469 billion during the week ended November 16 compared with a rise of $ 690 million during the previous week ended November 9.
The accretion to the reserves was mainly because of rise in foreign currency assets by $ 218 million to $ 43.527 billion. However, gold reserves stood static at $ 2.937 billion, while special drawing rights declined by $ 7 million to $ 5 million.
Since the beginning of the financial year, forex reserves have grown by $ 4.188 billion, while on year-on-year basis they rose by $ 9.392 billion.
An economist with a leading bank said, "The widening interest rate differential between India and the US is making our country an attractive investment destination. Portfolio inflows into both the stock and debt markets, which are still offering good returns, are expected to be healthy till second week of December, after which redemption pressures in the US will see repatriation of funds."
Reserve money has surged by Rs 12,245 crore to Rs 3,19,608 crore compared with a decline of Rs 9,907 crore during the previous week.
The economist said, "The rise in reserve money shows that monetisation is happening. This, when viewed on the backdrop of the government borrowings surpassing the target and the government's inability to rein in the fiscal deficit, could see inflation kicking-up in the last quarter."
Among the components of the reserve money, currency in circulation increased by 1.7 per cent compared with a rise of 2.5 per cent during the previous week, while the bankers' deposits with the RBI moved up by 7.7 per cent compared with a decline of 19.5 per cent during the previous week.
Meanwhile, as per the latest data available with the Reserve Bank, during the fortnight ended November 2, the non-food credit growth was very sluggish and rose marginally by Rs 14 crore to Rs 4,93,859 crore.
Aggregate deposits of scheduled commercial banks during the reporting fortnight rose by Rs 3,303 crore to Rs 10,52,603 crore.
