India's foreign exchange reserves rise for a seventh straight week to $716.9 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves are trending after the Reserve Bank of India reported that they rose by about $9.9 billion in the week ended 14 August, taking the total to roughly $716.9 billion. That is a six-month high and puts the reserves within reach of the record of around $728.5 billion touched in February.

Foreign exchange reserves are the pool of foreign currency, gold and other assets the central bank holds. They matter because they let the RBI smooth sharp swings in the rupee and reassure markets that India can comfortably pay for imports and meet external obligations. In this week's data, foreign currency assets grew by about $7.2 billion to roughly $581.9 billion, while the value of gold holdings rose by about $2.7 billion to about $111.4 billion.

This was the seventh consecutive weekly increase, a stretch that has added close to $50 billion. Reports link the run to stronger foreign currency inflows after RBI measures introduced in June, including hedging facilities aimed at supporting India's balance of payments.