RBI MPC meet: India's forex reserves may have crossed $600 bn, says Governor Shaktikanta Das

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday that India's forex reserves may have exceeded the record level of $600 billion on account of robust capital flows.

Das said this while announcing the outcome of the second bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). 'Based on the current estimation, we believe that our forex reserves may have crossed USD 600 billion,' he said while announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy review.

The RBI governor further stated that this "gives us the confidence to deal with global spillovers, whenever that should happen."

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To boost liquidity, the central bank announced several steps, including a special liquidity facility for various sectors impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The central bank also announced G-sec Acquisition Programme (G-SAP) 2.0 which will help in calming yields and control undue volatility faced by market participants in the government securities market.

During the second quarter of the current fiscal, the RBI said it will purchase Rs 1.20 lakh crore of G-sec from the secondary market as part of G-SAP 2.0.

RBI will buy Rs 40,000 crore of government securities on June 17, and the remaining schedule will be announced later, he said.

Also Read: RBI MPC Meet Highlights: Central bank maintains status quo; trims FY22 GDP forecast to 9.5%

India's foreign exchange reserves jumped by $2.865 billion to hit a record high of $592.894 billion for the week ended May 21, bolstered by gold and currency assets, as per RBI data on May 28.

The previous all-time high for the forex kitty was $590.185 billion for the week ended January 29, 2021.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

(With inputs from PTI.)