Forex reserves rise to near two-month high of $596 billion

Foreign exchange reserves rose for a second straight week and stood at over $596.28 billion as of July 7, the highest in nearly two months, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) data showed on Friday.

Reserves in the week ended July 7 rose by $1.23 billion from the week earlier.

They also rose by $1.85 billion in the week to June 30.

Also Read: June wholesale prices fall for third straight month

The central bank intervenes in the spot and forwards markets to prevent runaway moves in the rupee .

The changes in foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effects of appreciation or depreciation of other currencies held in the RBI's reserves. Foreign exchange reserves include India's Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.

In the week for which the forex reserves data pertains, the rupee had logged its worst week in seven. It had dropped to a more-than-one-month low of 82.74 during the week.

The rupee logged a weekly rise of 0.5 per cent to the dollar and ended at 82.1650 on Friday, on bets that the US Federal Reserve may pause interest rate hikes beyond July.