RBI’s forex swap facility attracts $56.84 billion till August 13
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The Reserve Bank on Friday said its concessional swap facility, introduced to encourage foreign currency inflows, has attracted $56.84 billion till August 13.
Based on the encouraging response to the swap facility for FCNR (B) deposits and the resultant forex inflows, the RBI said the facility will be available only for deposits mobilised till August 31.
Earlier, the cut-off date for Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Bank) or FCNR (B) deposits was September 30.
Under the FCNR (B) scheme, banks offer attractive interest rates to mobilise foreign currency deposits.
"The Swaps under this facility, i.e. FCNR (B) deposits, may be availed with the RBI till September 11, 2026," it said in a statement.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also said the Scheme for ECBs and OFCBs will continue to be open till December 31, 2026, as hitherto.
Of the total inflows, FCNR (B) deposits accounted for $52.3 billion, while Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs) contributed $2.805 billion and External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) amounted to $1.741 billion.
The concessional swap facility was operationalised on June 8, 2026.
The measures were announced as part of the RBI's efforts to strengthen India's external sector position and support foreign exchange liquidity amid global market uncertainties.
In recent months, the rupee has witnessed significant depreciation against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped $14.136 billion to $707.002 billion during the week ended August 7, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
The overall kitty had jumped by $10.512 billion to $692.866 billion in the previous reporting week ended July 31.
The reserves had expanded to an all-time high of $728.494 billion during the week ended February 27 this year before the onset of the West Asia conflict that led to several weeks of drops as the rupee came under pressure and the RBI had to intervene in the forex market through dollar sales.
For the week ended August 7, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased $9.946 billion to $574.625 billion, the central bank's data showed.
(Except for the headline, Fortune India has not edited the content of this PTI report.)