India's forex hit record high

India's forex hit record high

BOMBAY (Reuters): India's foreign exchange reserves rose to a
record high in dollar terms by mid-month, the central bank
reported, reflecting a huge inflow of foreign money into buy
Indian stocks.

By the close of trading last week, foreign investors had
brought over nine times as much money into India as they had a
year ago, according to analysts.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said foreign exchange reserves
totaled US$40.469 billion on Jan. 19, up $116 million from a week
earlier.

But in rupee terms reserves fell, reflecting the rupee's
appreciation against the dollar. India's foreign exchange
reserves totaled 1,878.79 billion rupees, down 2.44 billion
rupees from a week earlier.

The rupee, at its highest, gained 0.7 percent in January to
46.34 per dollar, up nearly 1.2 percent from the record low of
46.92 rupees struck in October. But it subsequently weakened on
month-end import demand.