The foreign exchange reserves cover of imports declined a tad to 9.1 months as of December-end 2018, compared to 9.5 months at September-end 2018, according to the RBI’s Report on Management of Foreign Exchange Reserves. The reserves cover of imports stood at 10.9 months and 11.3 months as of March-end 2018 and March-end 2017, respectively.
The reserves cover of imports is one of the measures of the adequacy of reserves. It is assessed in terms of the cover the reserves provide against volatile capital movements. The ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to reserves, which was 26.1 per cent at September-end 2018, increased to 26.4 per cent at December-end 2018, the report said.
The ratio of volatile capital flows (include cumulative portfolio inflows and outstanding short-term debt) to reserves increased from 88.4 per cent at September-end 2018 to 88.7 per cent at December-end 2018.
As of March-end, 2019, the RBI held 612.56 tonnes of gold, with 320.26 tonnes being held overseas in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements, while the remaining gold is held domestically.
In value terms (US dollar), the share of gold in the total foreign exchange reserves increased marginally from about 5.08 per cent as of September-end 2018 to about 5.59 per cent as of March-end, 2019.