India’s foreign exchange reserves have witnessed a remarkable upswing for the third consecutive week, reaching an impressive total of $609.02 billion as of July 14, according to data released by the central bank on Friday.

The latest surge saw an increase of $12.74 billion from the previous week, marking the most significant gain in four months. 

The reserves had risen by a combined $3.08 billion in the preceding two weeks.

Economist Gaura Sen Gupta from IDFC FIRST Bank attributed a substantial portion of this week-on-week rise to revaluation gains due to the weakening of the US dollar and the reduction in US Treasury yields. 

Sen Gupta explained that the rest of the increase is the result of the RBI’s forex purchases in the spot foreign exchange markets while also mentioning the central bank’s intention to maintain the rupee in a narrow range throughout the year.

The growth in foreign investors’ interest in Indian equities has been noteworthy, as data from the National Securities Depository Limited reveals a net purchase of $16 billion in the past three months. 

This development has allowed the central bank to acquire from the market and bolster its reserves.

During the same week that recorded the surge in forex reserves, the Indian rupee demonstrated its best performance in four weeks, trading from 81.9300 to 82.6550. 

On Friday, the rupee closed at 81.9450, marking a 0.1% increase for the week.