India’s forex reserves decreased $2.282 billion to $640.33 billion for the seven days ended April 19 in the second consecutive week of drop in the kitty, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.
Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters
The reserves had dropped $5.40 billion to $643.16 billion in the previous reporting week, ending a multi-week trend of an increase, which also saw the overall reserves touching a new all-time high of $648.56 billion for the week ended April 5.
In September 2021, the country’s forex kitty had reached a high of $642.45 billion, which was breached in March this year.
The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global events, but there had been a steady accretion over the past few months.
For the week ended April 19, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased $3.79 billion to $560.86 billion, according to the data released on Friday.
Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound, and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
Gold reserves continued to rise and increased $1.01 billion to $56.81 billion during the week, the RBI said.
The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down $43 million to $18.03 billion, the apex bank said.
India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down $2 million to $4.63 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.