Tag: foreign exchange

  • India’s Forex Kitty Surges To New Lifetime High Of $655.8 Billion | Economy News

    New Delhi: India’s foreign exchange reserves surged by $4.3 billion during the week ended June 7 to scale a lifetime high of $655.8 billion, according to the latest data released by the RBI on Friday. The country’s forex kitty has broken the earlier record of $651.5 billion, as of May 31, that was announced by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on June 7, and has been rising steadily in recent weeks.

    The surge in foreign exchange reserves also came on a day when Commerce Ministry data show that India’s exports of goods shot up over 9 per cent in May. “India’s external sector remains resilient and overall, we remain confident of meeting our external financing requirements comfortably,” Das said at a press conference after the monetary policy meeting last week. (Also Read: Advance Tax First Instalment Payment: Find Out Who Has To Pay, Consequences Of Missing Payment)

    India, with an expected 15.2 per cent share in world remittances in 2024, also continues to be the largest recipient of remittances globally. Overall, the current account deficit for 2024-25 is expected to remain well within its sustainable level, he added. (Also Read: EPF Withdrawal Update: EPFO ​​Discontinues Covid-19 Advance Facility – Check Details)

    An increase in the foreign exchange reserves reflects strong fundamentals of the economy and gives the RBI more headroom to stabilise the rupee when it turns volatile. A strong forex kitty enables the RBI to intervene in the spot and forward currency markets by releasing more dollars to prevent the rupee from going into a free fall. Conversely, a declining forex kitty leaves the RBI less space to intervene in the market to prop up the rupee.

  • What’s the foreign exchange price?

    Whether you might be planning abroad journey or wish to ship cash overseas, it’s all the time a good suggestion to buy round for one of the best foreign exchange trade price. From banks, journey aggregators to cash changers, numerous small and large gamers promote international trade.

    To simplify your work, here’s a listing of INR to USD foreign exchange charges supplied by a few of the main banks and journey aggregators. We advocate that you simply additionally examine the fee being charged by these gamers to make sure that you’re getting one of the best deal.

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    (Graphic: Mint)

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    Updated: 13 Oct 2023, 10:36 AM IST

  • What is the foreign exchange charge provided by banks, journey aggregators?

    Whether you might be planning abroad journey or need to ship cash overseas, it’s at all times a good suggestion to buy round for the perfect international change charges. From banks, journey aggregators to cash changers, numerous small and large gamers promote international change. To simplify your work, here’s a checklist of INR to USD foreign exchange charges provided by among the main banks and journey aggregators. We suggest that you just additionally examine the fee being charged by these gamers to make sure that you’re getting the perfect deal.

  • Rupee positive factors 29 paise to shut at 82.37 in opposition to US greenback

    (PTI) The rupee gained 29 paise to shut at 82.37 (provisional) in opposition to the US greenback on Monday, supported by a weaker buck abroad and a agency development in home equities.

    At the interbank overseas trade market, the native unit opened at 82.41 and touched an intra-day excessive of 82.25 and a low of 82.44 in opposition to the buck.

    It lastly ended at 82.37 (provisional), registering an increase of 29 paise over its earlier shut.

    On Friday, the rupee settled at 82.66 in opposition to the greenback.

    The greenback index, which gauges the buck’s energy in opposition to a basket of six currencies, declined 0.24 per cent to 103.62.

    According to Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, the rupee strengthened in step with Asian currencies and touched a month excessive.

    “In the last couple of days, the rupee has underperformed among its regional peers amid a headwind of wide current account deficit and foreign fund outflows. But now, looking at the recent high-frequency data and rebound in the risk assets, we could see the rupee start catching up with the other Asian currencies,” Parmar mentioned.

    The near-term focus can be on the motion of the Chinese yuan and this week’s inflation information from the US and India, he added.

    On the home fairness market entrance, the 30-share BSE Sensex superior 846.94 factors or 1.41 per cent to finish at 60,747.31, whereas the broader NSE Nifty jumped 241.75 factors or 1.35 per cent to 18,101.20.

    Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 3.27 per cent to USD 81.14 per barrel.

    Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have been web sellers within the capital markets on Friday as they offloaded shares price ₹2,902.46 crore, in line with trade information.

     

     

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    Why does the rupee fluctuate in opposition to the greenback?

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  • BookMyForex launches interbank fee foreign exchange card with zero markup

    Online international alternate market BookMyForex.com on Wednesday introduced the launch of interbank fee multi-currency foreign exchange card. The firm mentioned it’s India’s first true zero markup journey card. Earlier, BookMyForex charged a markup of about 0.25 paise per greenback, which has now been waived with the introduction of interbank fee multi-currency foreign exchange card, Sudarshan Motwani, Founder and CEO, BookMyForex.com mentioned in an interplay with Mint.

     The BookMyForex co-branded multi-currency card is developed in affiliation with Yes Bank, M2P and is powered by Visa.

     “Despite the wide selection of worldwide journey playing cards, prospects nonetheless don’t get a transparent image of a product that’s greatest suited to international bills. Foreign transactions on Debit/ Credit playing cards issued by Banks might be marked up by as a lot as 5% over interbank charges. Some INR card merchandise that declare zero markup truly present zero markup on VISA/ GraspCard charges, which itself might be marked up by as much as 1% over interbank charges. Hence, zero markup is just not zero markup until it’s zero markup on Interbank charges,” Motwani said in the company’s statement.

     BookMyForex claimed that the card is accepted globally at over 35 million stores, 1 million e-commerce websites, and over 2 million ATMs. “The card can be loaded with 14 different currencies, and the exchange rates on forex cards remain fixed, unlike any INR based debit or credit cards. A customer need not worry about the rate fluctuations and the losses from the rate volatility.”

    As an added provide, BookMyForex will even present a FREE worldwide SIM with limitless incoming calls and WhatsApp chats together with the Interbank fee Forex Card. “This SIM card will enable travellers to remain related whereas abroad with limitless free incoming calls and WhatsApp chats for 30 days put up activation. Customers will simply be capable of prime up this SIM card with further information and voice packs as per their necessities,” the corporate mentioned.

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  • Many exporters, importers reluctant to hedge foreign exchange publicity

    Despite the 11.2 per cent fall within the rupee’s worth in 2022, a big part of exporters and importers are reluctant to totally hedge their overseas trade publicity owing to larger prices concerned within the course of and are awaiting a particular route within the motion of the foreign money.

    While massive corporates have strong danger administration practices in place and the small and mid-sized gamers nonetheless have parts of their overseas publicity unhedged, a sizeable chunk of abroad loans are nonetheless unhedged, bankers mentioned.

    According to the June 2022 Financial Stability Report (FSR) of the Reserve Bank, of the excellent exterior business borrowings (ECBs) of $ 180 billion, 44 per cent or $ 79 billion is unhedged. This included about $40 billion liabilities of public sector firms, primarily within the petroleum, railways and energy sectors, which have property with a pure hedge character. However, information on unhedged foreign exchange publicity of importers and exporters just isn’t accessible however bankers mentioned it could be manageable.

    Hedging is a standard monetary follow utilized by exporters and importers to attenuate the impression of unpredictable fluctuations in trade charges. When the rupee falls, repayments develop into costlier within the absence of hedging. Hedging prices rise when the market faces excessive volatility. Forward contracts and foreign money derivatives are among the many devices used for hedging.

    In the present 12 months, the rupee has depreciated by round 11.28 per cent. Between September 1 and October 21, the foreign money has fallen by round 4 per cent, or Rs 3.4. It crossed the 83-mark for the primary time on October 19. The Reserve Bank had not too long ago requested banks to establish overseas foreign money publicity of entities yearly. While exporters profit from the rupee fall, importers take successful if their publicity is uncovered.

    Even banks are preserving an in depth watch on the unhedged portion of overseas foreign money exposures of corporates and nudging them to take motion to cut back dangers. “As a banker, when we lend in foreign currency, we generally insist on entities to hedge, so that the liability on currency risk is minimised,” mentioned Suresh Khatanhar, Deputy Managing Director, IDBI Bank.

    Bankers mentioned the RBI pointers state that lenders have to gather data from the purchasers who’re having unhedged overseas foreign money publicity on the finish of each quarter. If the unhedged publicity is extra, it provides to the associated fee for banks and, so, they’re preserving a observe on unhedged overseas foreign money publicity, mentioned a banker.

    Some consultants consider that for the reason that contract length of exporters and importers just isn’t an extended one, they don’t see one or two months of foreign money fluctuations as a problem and might anticipate some extra time to get readability on the foreign money’s motion earlier than deciding on hedging. “Importers are waiting for a correction in the current level of the rupee to hedge their exposure,” a banker mentioned.

    Some exporters and importers see hedging as a method to take a position relatively than from a danger administration perspective, mentioned a vendor from a foreign exchange advisory agency. By not hedging, they is perhaps taking some dangers that would go of their favour, he mentioned.

    Entities which don’t hedge their overseas foreign money exposures can incur vital losses in the course of the interval of heightened volatility in overseas trade charges, the RBI had mentioned. These losses might scale back their capability to service the loans taken from the banking system and enhance their chance of default thereby affecting the well being of the banking system.

    Since the motion of foreign money relies on varied world components, it’s crucial for exporters and importers to totally hedge their foreign exchange exposures, consultants mentioned.

    According to Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General and CEO Ajay Sahai, exporters are being inspired to hedge sure parts of the worth of their contracts on the time of finalizing the deal.

    He, nonetheless, agrees that with fixed depreciation within the rupee and the overall indication pointing to an extra depreciation, there could also be a bit of exporters who are usually not preserving overseas foreign money publicity hedged and, they could be enjoying with the trade fee. But on the identical time, there are extra importers who’re hedging their overseas foreign money exposures now.

    “We always tell exporters that their profitability should come from their core business. Exchange benefits can just be an icing on the cake,” Sahai mentioned.

  • Forex reserves fall $4.5 billion to $528.37 billion

    India’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by USD 4.50 billion to USD 528.37 billion for the week ended October 14, the RBI stated on Friday.

    The general reserves had elevated by USD 204 million to USD 532 billion within the earlier reporting week, which was the primary weekly enhance within the kitty since August this 12 months.

    In October 2021, the nation’s foreign exchange kitty had reached an all-time excessive of USD 645 billion. The reserves have been declining because the central financial institution deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures induced majorly by international developments.

    Foreign Currency Assets (FCA), a serious part of the general reserves, noticed a drop of USD 2.828 billion to USD 468.668 billion through the week to October 14, in keeping with the Weekly Statistical Supplement launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

    Expressed in greenback phrases, the FCAs embody the impact of appreciation or depreciation of non-US models just like the euro, pound and yen held within the international trade reserves.

    Gold reserves, whose worth had risen by USD 1.35 billion within the earlier reporting week, noticed a decline of USD 1.502 billion within the worth to USD 37.453 billion, it stated.

    The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) have been down by USD 149 million to USD 17.433 billion, the apex financial institution stated.

    The nation’s reserve place with the IMF have been down by USD 23 million to USD 4.813 billion within the reporting week, the apex financial institution information confirmed.

  • Want to ship cash overseas? Know the advantages of LRS

    If you have got a toddler learning overseas or if you’re planning an abroad vacation, then the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) applies to you.

    Under LRS, all resident people, together with minors, can remit as much as $2,50,000 per monetary yr for any permissible transaction. There are not any restrictions on the frequency of remittances, and in addition no transaction-specific sub-limits below LRS.

    Among the permitted transactions for which international change could be remitted, are non-public journey (besides to Nepal and Bhutan), journey for enterprise or medical remedy, items or donations, upkeep of shut relations overseas, research, and abroad investments. On the opposite hand, prohibited transactions embrace remitting cash for buy of lottery tickets, for margin calls to abroad exchanges / counterparties, and for buy of belongings in international locations recognized as non-cooperative by the Financial Action Task Force.

    “Certain transactions are prohibited below regulation, and the identical restrictions have been integrated even below the LRS,” says Neeraj Agarwala, partner, Nangia Andersen India.

    To be able to remit money, the individual must have a valid PAN and should be able to provide adequate documents to prove the genuineness of the transaction, says Agarwala.

    As for investments made abroad, he says, “Investing in the shares of a private company is permitted under the LRS. But one needs to ensure that they comply with the ODI (overseas direct investment) guidelines. So, the monetary limit comes from the LRS, and the compliances and other regulations come in from the ODI scheme.”

    While the LRS restrict applies at a person degree, relations can membership collectively their permissible limits. Agarwala says RBI has now particularly permitted pooling of funds for the acquisition of immovable property exterior India. “So, if I buy a property for $4,00,000, then I can remit $2,50,000 and the stability could be remitted by my spouse. After the latest modification, she needn’t be a co-owner within the property.”

    RBI information on LRS exhibits ‘maintenance of relatives’ and ‘gifts’ among the many prime spend classes after journey and research overseas.

    According to Agarwala, for the aim of LRS, the identical definition of relative as below the Companies Act, 2013, is relevant. This contains father, mom, partner, siblings, and many others. “In absence of any particular directions on what is roofed below ‘maintenance’, this could usually imply the price of lodging, journey, medical and training bills of shut relations.”

    Again, ‘gift’ has not been defined. “So, any money transferred out of love and affection, and not as consideration for any services received would qualify as a gift,” provides Agarwala.

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  • Forex reserves drop $11.17 billion

    The foreign exchange reserves recorded the best ever fall for the week ended April 1, sliding by $11.173 billion to $606.475 billion because the forex got here below strain on account of geopolitical developments, in keeping with the RBI knowledge launched on Friday.

    The steep fall within the international alternate — or foreign exchange — reserves was due to a decline within the core forex property, which declined by $10.727 billion to $539.727 billion.

    Typically, the RBI intervenes out there to cut back volatility within the forex market by promoting from its reserves kitty.

    The earlier worst weekly fall was of $9.6 billion for the week ended on March 11. For the reporting week, the worth of gold reserves additionally decreased by $507 million to $42.734 billion, knowledge from launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) confirmed.

    The particular drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) elevated by $58 million to $18.879 billion, the RBI stated. The nation’s reserve place with the IMF additionally elevated by $4 million to $5.136 billion within the reporting week, the information confirmed.

    The earlier worst weekly fall was of $9.6 billion for the week ended on March 11. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to troubles within the forex markets. With PTI