India’s foreign exchange reserves cross $450B mark

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – Battling “sputtering” economy, India posted over $450 billion in its foreign exchange reserves, country’s central bank chief has said.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said that country’s foreign exchange reserves continued “upward journey” surging to a new high of $451.7 billion as of December 3, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. This technically means India has import cover for over 11 months now.

RBI chief added that since beginning of current fiscal i.e. March 2019, PTI reported, India’s forex kitty has gained by $38.8 billion as of December 3. “It is largest in recent years,” Das added.

The surge in foreign reserves comes at a time when India rupee has lost value against U.S. dollar which opened on a “steady note” at INR 71.30.

Besides, the country of 1.3 billion population has witnessed deep fall in its annual growth to 5% GDP. It is also witnessing 45-year high unemployment.

Indian finance ministry has taken several measures to funnel cash in to several sectors to generate employment and push forward India growth story.

Interestingly, India’s $2.1 trillion stock market has been surging as foreign investors pumped in money.