Those who consider the rupee as a proxy for virility have started thumping their chests and dreaming of dethroning the dollar from its coveted position, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'Challenge is basically near-term growth as the outlook has turned a bit adverse.'
In the second consecutive week of an increase in the kitty, India's forex reserves have grown by $2.54 billion to $547.25 billion for the week ended November 18, the RBI said on Friday. In the previous reporting week, the overall kitty had swelled by $14.72 billion in the highest weekly rise since August 2021 to $544.71 billion. It can be noted that in October 2021, the country's forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.
'A repo cut will be very good for the market as it will mean that everything is being done to spur growth in these uncertain times.'
India has moved 100 metric tonnes of its gold stored in the UK to domestic vaults in FY24, sources said on Friday. This is one of the biggest movements of gold undertaken by the country since 1991, when pledging a substantial part of the gold holding to tide over a foreign exchange crisis resulted in its movement out of vaults. The country's overall gold holding increased 27.46 metric tonnes in FY24 and it stands at 822 metric tonnes, as per official data.
From the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Nestle, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, and Tech Mahindra were the biggest gainers. In contrast, Eternal, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, Tata Steel and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the laggards. Eternal dropped 4.51 per cent.
India's current account deficit narrowed to $1.3 billion or 0.2 per cent of GDP in the January-March quarter of FY23, mainly due to moderation in the trade deficit and a robust increase in services exports, RBI data showed on Tuesday. However, for the 2022-23 fiscal, the current account balance recorded a deficit of 2 per cent of GDP compared to 1.2 per cent in 2021-22. "India's current account deficit (CAD) decreased to $1.3 billion (0.2 per cent of GDP) in Q4:2022-23 from $16.8 billion (2.0 per cent of GDP) in Q3:2022-231, and $13.4 billion (1.6 per cent of GDP) a year ago [Q4:2021-22]," as per the RBI's 'Developments in India's Balance of Payments during the Fourth Quarter (January-March) of 2022-23'.
Foreign exchange reserves jumped $1.17 billion to touch a new record high of $355.46 billion.
The government will privately place two bonds totalling Rs 130 billion with the central bank to fund prepayment of $2.97 billion in foreign currency loans, the Reserve Bank of India said on Monday.
The Reserve Bank on Monday warned that India's foreign exchange reserves mostly comprise borrowed funds and the country is vulnerable to sudden outflow of funds.
'If it doesn't, it will continue with measures to infuse liquidity, signalling a new cycle,' predicts Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded on Thursday after two days of decline, mirroring a rally in global markets as a US court blocked President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 320.70 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 81,633.02.
The first national flag in Independent India was hoisted at Fort St George in Madras, not at Delhi's Red Fort.
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday hiked key benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 per cent, citing sticky core inflation.
'We remain in touch with the Chinese side, in Beijing as well as in Delhi, to bring predictability in the supply chain.'
In the biggest weekly increase in over a year, India's forex reserves swelled by $6.56 billion to reach $531.08 billion for the week ended October 28, RBI data showed on Friday. The overall reserves, which have been on a declining spree for many months now, had dropped by $3.85 billion to $524.52 billion in the previous reporting week. The $6.5 billion jump in the reporting week is the highest since September 2021.
Among Sensex firms, Eternal, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Adani Ports, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma were the major losers. Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle and Maruti were among the gainers.
'Growth, liquidity and deposit mobilisation are likely to be discussed during the interaction.'
In rupee terms, the country's foreign exchange reserves rose by Rs 19,809 crore (Rs 198.09 billion) to Rs 12,49,819 crore (Rs 12,498.19 billion) in the week ended June 12, according to the latest data released by the Reserve bank of India.
The government has hiked gold import duty to 15 per cent from 10.75 per cent to check the current account deficit (CAD) and rising import of the yellow metal. The duty changes came into effect on June 30. Earlier, the basic customs duty on gold was 7.5 per cent, now it will be 12.5 per cent.
The Reserve Bank of India may move forward to accumulating more gold as the yellow metal is expected to shine in the years to come. "A weaker dollar could diminish the value of India's foreign exchange reserves and hence this could lead to further accumulation of gold by the RBI. This move will help India's central bank to hedge its downside risk on the foreign exchange reserves front," Angel Commodities Broking analyst Amar Singh said.
From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, Titan, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Nestle, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank and Tata Motors were the biggest gainers. However, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance and UltraTech Cement were the laggards.
The Reserve Bank of India has brought 100 metric tonnes of gold reserve from the UK to India as there is enough domestic storage capacity, and nothing more should be read into it, Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday. The RBI moved 100 metric tonnes of its gold stored in the UK to domestic vaults in FY24.
Most of the Asia-Pacific economies would be cushioned by healthy foreign exchange reserves in the last quarter of the current calendar year, global ratings agency, Standard & Poor, said in a report.
Planning Commission on Thursday said a desicion was expected shortlyon using foreign exchange reserves for infrastructure projects.
India's management of foreign exchange reserves has generally been in accordance with International Monetary Fund guidelines and comparable to global best practices.
After a long debate with Planning Commission, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has finally agreed to consider funding infrastructure projects through the country's booming foreign exchange reserves that currently stand at about $170 billion.
India's exports in April jumped nearly three-fold to USD 30.63 billion from USD 10.36 billion in the same month last year, according to government data released on Friday.
'India's sizeable foreign exchange reserves should serve as a buffer.'
The 17 rare earth elements that are at the centre of the current crisis are critical components of everyday products -- from cars to jet engines to electronics like smartphones and flat-screen TVs.
With the prediction of an above normal monsoon in 2024, the government is expecting food prices to come down, the finance ministry's monthly economic report for March has said. The report, released on Thursday, said robust foreign inflows and comfortable trade deficits were expected to keep the rupee within a comfortable range. "Further easing of food prices is on the anvil as IMD (India Meteorological Department) has predicted above-normal rainfall during the monsoon season, which is likely to lead to higher production, assuming good spatial and temporal distribution of the rainfall," the monthly report, released by the Department of Economic Affairs, said.
Contradicting the International Monetary Fund, which does not want India and other countries to use any of its foreign exchange reserves for building infrastructure
A pregnant Sri Lankan woman, who had been in a queue for two days to obtain a passport to leave the crisis-hit country for employment overseas, went into labour while waiting for her turn on Thursday and delivered a baby girl.
The Indian rupee is expected to trade between 80 and 84 against dollar in the first three months of 2023 with support from overseas inflows though worsening current account deficit (CAD) and reduced interest rate differential between the US and India pose challenges. According to a Business Standard Poll of 10 participants, most said the rupee could gain strength in January due to foreign inflows, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not expected to allow the currency to depreciate ahead of the Union Budget scheduled on February 1. The rupee depreciated 10.15 per cent in 2022, its worst performance since 2013 as the war in Europe and the interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve prompted investors to flee emerging markets.
Government is also will also enter into an agreement with Japan for a $50 billion swap.
The surge is a stark turnaround from 2013 when the country's current account gap hit a record high due to outflows on expectations the US Fed would rein in its stimulus programme
From the Sensex firms, Tata Steel, Eternal, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services and Bharti Airtel were the major gainers. Telecom operator Bharti Airtel climbed nearly 1 per cent after it posted about a five-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 11,022 crore in the March 2025 quarter, mainly due to the tariff hike impact and one-time gain on tax benefits. However, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC and Power Grid were among the laggards.
