Re fall has forex plunging by $16.5 bn since April
9 Sep 2013 9:22 PM GMT
RBI's fight to prop the tottering rupee has contributed substantially to forex reserves dipping by a hefty $16.554 billion or 6 per cent to a low of $275.49 billion since the beginning of this fiscal.
According to marketmen, a large part of this has been used to save the bleeding rupee, which went on a downward spiral after 22 May when Ben Bernanke of the US Fed had hinted at turning his easy money policy much earlier than previously hinted.
According to the latest Reserve Bank data, forex reserves plunged to $275.491 billion to the week ending 30 August, which is a near 6 per cent fall from $292.646 billion as of 29 March.
The rupee opened the fiscal at 54.25 to the US dollar but fell to a life-time low of 68.86 on 28 August, losing nearly a third of its value. However, since the new RBI governor Raghuram Govind Rajan took over the affairs of the Mint Street on 4 September, the rupee has been on a winning streak, and closed the last trade on Friday at 65.24 to the dollar.
On a weekly basis, the reserves dropped by $2.2 billion as of 30 August, marking a three-year low, the RBI data showed.Overall, the foreign currency assets have fallen more to the tune of $3.08 billion to $247.40 billion in the week ended 30 August.
The Reserve Bank was net seller of the dollar twice this year in May and June, according to its monthly data.In June this year, RBI sold $2.252 billion net of the US currency, while in May it sold $107 million dollars. Looking at the steep fall in the overall numbers, marketmen said, it could be surmised that the central bank has intervened in a much more heavier and frequent manner in the forex market in July and August, as these two months saw the rupee plunging to new lows.
According to forex dealers, RBI not only intervened in May and June, but was present in the market all through July and August when rupee was touching new lows.
The announcement led to a massive selling by the overseas investors in the country's debt and equity markets, to the tune of nearly $15 billion, mostly from the debt market. To save the rupee, the central bank had announced various liquidity tightening measures starting 15 July, including steeply hiking call money rates and partly bringing back capital control.
According to marketmen, a large part of this has been used to save the bleeding rupee, which went on a downward spiral after 22 May when Ben Bernanke of the US Fed had hinted at turning his easy money policy much earlier than previously hinted.
According to the latest Reserve Bank data, forex reserves plunged to $275.491 billion to the week ending 30 August, which is a near 6 per cent fall from $292.646 billion as of 29 March.
The rupee opened the fiscal at 54.25 to the US dollar but fell to a life-time low of 68.86 on 28 August, losing nearly a third of its value. However, since the new RBI governor Raghuram Govind Rajan took over the affairs of the Mint Street on 4 September, the rupee has been on a winning streak, and closed the last trade on Friday at 65.24 to the dollar.
On a weekly basis, the reserves dropped by $2.2 billion as of 30 August, marking a three-year low, the RBI data showed.Overall, the foreign currency assets have fallen more to the tune of $3.08 billion to $247.40 billion in the week ended 30 August.
The Reserve Bank was net seller of the dollar twice this year in May and June, according to its monthly data.In June this year, RBI sold $2.252 billion net of the US currency, while in May it sold $107 million dollars. Looking at the steep fall in the overall numbers, marketmen said, it could be surmised that the central bank has intervened in a much more heavier and frequent manner in the forex market in July and August, as these two months saw the rupee plunging to new lows.
According to forex dealers, RBI not only intervened in May and June, but was present in the market all through July and August when rupee was touching new lows.
The announcement led to a massive selling by the overseas investors in the country's debt and equity markets, to the tune of nearly $15 billion, mostly from the debt market. To save the rupee, the central bank had announced various liquidity tightening measures starting 15 July, including steeply hiking call money rates and partly bringing back capital control.
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