RBI invests 27.6 per cent of forex reserves in sovereign bonds

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has raised its investments in sovereign bonds even as its foreign exchange reserves continued to raise, the RBI''s half-yearly report on forex reserves shows.

RBI invested $19 billion in overseas bonds, more than half of the $34 billion increase in its foreign exchange reserves for the six months ended March 2007.

RBI''s currency reserves stood at $192 billion as of March 31, 2007, the close of financial year 2006-07. The RBI also held gold worth $6.7 billion.

Of the total, $53 billion were invested in sovereign bonds, $92 billion with other central banks, the BIS and IMF, while $47 billion were deposited with foreign commercial banks.

The percentage of forex reserves invested in sovereign bonds rose to 27.6 per cent from 21.6 per cent six months earlier.

Deposits with other central banks, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by $16 billion, while deposits with foreign commercial banks declined by $1 billion.

Reserves have grown 20 per cent in 2006-07 financial year and by over 12 per cent since then to a record $215 billion in early July.

India''s foreign exchange reserves are the fifth-largest in Asia while analysts say the large forex inflows reflect the central bank''s aim to cap the strength of the rupee.

Foreign direct investment into the country rose to $17.7 billion in 2006-07 from $7.7 billion a year earlier, RBI said in the report.

India''s economy, which recorded a growth of 9.4 per cent in 2006-07, continued to attracted foreign investors, increasing demand for the rupee and pushing the currency to nine-year highs against the dollar.