Mumbai: Indias foreign exchange reserves increased for the first time in five weeks and reached $562.40 billion as of the week ended March 3, according to the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) statistical supplement released on Friday.
As per the data, the reserves rose by $1.46 billion at the end of last week, following a total decline of $15.8 billion in the four previous weeks. In the week ending on February 24, the reserves were at $560.94 billion.
The Reserve Bank of India intervenes in the spot and forwards market to prevent extreme fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Indian rupee and the US dollar.
The central bank has previously explained that variations in reserves may also result from valuation gains or losses.
The rupee appreciated by 0.9% against the dollar last week, marking its largest weekly gain in almost two months, and rose above 82 for the first time in a month.
It traded within a range of 81.92 to 82.95 throughout the week. In the current week, the rupee ended the week slightly higher, closing at 82.04 on Friday.
