India's forex reserves hit record high of $651.5 billion as of May 31

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves hit a record high of $651.5 billion as of May 31, the governor of the central bank said on Friday.

"India's external sector remains resilient and the key external vulnerability indicators continue to improve," Shaktikanta Das said while announcing the latest interest rate decision.

"Overall, we remain confident of meeting our external financing requirements comfortably."

Reserves rose by $4.8 billion in the reporting week, the biggest rise in over two months. They had fallen by $2 billion in the prior week.

The RBI intervenes in the foreign exchange market to curb excess volatility in the rupee.

Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the RBI's intervention as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves.

Foreign exchange reserves also include India's reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.

For the week to which the foreign exchange data pertains, the rupee traded in a range of 83.04 to 83.4775 against the dollar, and logged its worst week in over two months.

The currency was trading at 83.45 on Friday.

(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)