From an abysmally low figure of less than $1 billion in 1991, India's foreign exchange reserves have swelled to $185.1 billion with $33.5 billion added to the kitty in the current fiscal.
The foreign exchange reserves stood at $185.1 billion on February 9 as against $151.6 billion at the start of the fiscal, said the Economic Survey tabled inParliament on Tuesday by Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
"During April-September 2006, forex reserves rose by $13.7 billion from $151.6 billion at end-March 2006 to $165.3 billion in September 2006," the Survey said.
Inclusive of gold, IMF reserve tranche position and valuation changes, forex reserves grew from $141.5 billion at end-March 2005 to $151.6 billion in March 2006.
"The rapid growth in Net Foreign Assets of the Reserve Bank of India was a reflection of the buoyant flows of foreign exchange reserves through the balance of payments," the Survey said.
While appreciation of the dollar vis-a-vis other major currencies resulted in a valuation loss of $5 billion in 2005-06, the weakening dollar in the first half of the current year resulted in the valuation gain of a similar amount, it said.