Income Receives $13 Billion Foreign Exchange Impetus

Net income rises to ₹2.69 lakh crore, up 27.5% on year

- AGENCIES

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) gains from foreign exchange transactions surged nearly 33% to ₹1.11 lakh crore ($13 billion) for the fiscal ended March, pushing up its income sharply, its annual report showed on Thursday.

Net income rose to ₹2.69 lakh crore, up 27.5% on year. Interest income from foreign securities also saw a sharp rise to ₹97,007 crore, from ₹65,328 crore in the previous year.

The size of the RBI's balance sheet grew 8.2% to ₹76.25 lakh crore.

Increase on assets side was due to rise in gold, domestic investments and foreign investments by 52.09%, 14.32% and 1.70%, respectively, said the annual report.

"The year ended with an overall surplus of ₹2.68 lakh crore, against ₹2.11 lakh crore in the previous year, resulting in an increase of 27.37%," it said.