Indian forex reserves up

Indian forex reserves up

NEW DELHI (AFP): India's foreign exchange reserves are set to reach a record US$20 billion during the current financial year, The Business Standard daily reported yesterday.

Finance ministry officials told the newspaper that reserves had increased by $1 billion in September to a high of $18.67 billion, making the target of 20 billion feasible in fiscal 1994- 95.

They said the steep rise was mainly due to an injection of overseas investment, which is set to exceed $1 billion in the current financial year, which began in April.

Direct foreign investment was $620 million in 1993-94, they said.

The Business Standard said portfolio management and global offerings of Indian scrips had contributed $1.6 billion and $1.5 billion to the reserves this fiscal year.

Foreign investors have pledged more than $5 billion since Finance Minister Manmohan Singh launched sweeping economic reforms in 1991, ending a host of quasi-socialistic market curbs.