Earlier today, the Reserve Bank of India released the Balance of Payments (BoP) data for Q3 of 2012-13 (October-December 2012) on its website (www.rbi.org.in). On the basis of these data, the sources of variation in foreign exchange reserves during April-December 2012 have been compiled. Sources of Variation in Foreign Exchange Reserves: April-December 2012 During April-December 2012, there was a marginal accretion to the foreign exchange reserves. The sources of variation in the foreign exchange reserves are set out in Table 1.
Table 1: Sources of Variation in Foreign Exchange Reserves*
|
(US $ billion) |
Items |
2011-12 |
2012-13 |
April-December |
April-December |
I. |
|
Current Account Balance |
-56.4 |
-72.0 |
II. |
|
Capital Account (net) (a to f) |
49.3 |
73.1 |
|
a. |
Foreign Investment (i+ii) |
23.9 |
29.9 |
|
|
(i) Foreign Direct Investment |
20.7 |
15.3 |
|
|
(ii) Portfolio Investment |
3.2 |
14.6 |
|
|
Of which: |
|
|
|
|
FIIs |
2.7 |
16.0 |
|
|
ADRs/GDRs |
0.6 |
0.3 |
|
b. |
External Commercial Borrowings |
8.1 |
4.5 |
|
c. |
Banking Capital |
14.2 |
20.2 |
|
|
of which: NRI Deposits |
7.3 |
12.0 |
|
d. |
Short-Term Trade Credit |
6.5 |
15.7 |
|
e. |
External Assistance |
2.0 |
1.8 |
|
f. |
Other Items in Capital Account |
-5.5 |
1.0 |
III. |
|
Valuation Change |
-1.0 |
0.1 |
|
|
Total (I+II+III) @ |
-8.1 |
1.2 |
*: Based on old format of BoP @: Difference, if any, is due to rounding off. Note: (i) ‘Other items in capital account’ apart from ‘Errors and Omissions’ include SDR allocations, leads and lags in exports, funds held abroad, advances received pending issue of shares under FDI and transactions of capital receipts not included elsewhere. (ii) Increase in reserves(+) / Decrease in reserves (-). |
On a balance of payments basis (i.e., excluding valuation effects), the foreign exchange reserves increased by US$ 1.1 billion during April-December 2012 as against a decline of US$ 7.1 billion during the same period previous year. The foreign exchange reserves (including the valuation effects) increased by US$ 1.2 billion during April-December 2012 as against a decline of US$ 8.1 billion during the same period a year ago (Table 2).
Table 2: Comparative Position of Variation in Reserves |
(US$ billion) |
Items |
2011-12 April-December |
2012-13 April-December |
1. |
Change in Foreign Exchange Reserves (Including Valuation Effects) |
-8.1 |
1.2 |
2. |
Valuation Effects (Gain (+)/Loss (-)) |
-1.0 |
0.1 |
3. |
Change in Foreign Exchange Reserves on BoP basis (i.e., Excluding Valuation Effects) |
-7.1 |
1.1 |
4. |
Percentage of increase/decline in Reserves explained by Valuation Gain/Loss |
12.3 |
7.7 |
Note: Increase in reserves (+)/Decrease in reserves (-). Difference, if any, is due to rounding off. |
The valuation gains, reflecting the depreciation of the US dollar against major currencies, amounted to US$ 0.1 billion during April-December 2012 as against a valuation loss of US$ 1.0 billion during the same period last year. Alpana Killawala Chief General Manager Press Release : 2012-2013/1632 |