India’s forex reserves drop by USD 8.714 bln to USD 625.871 bln

Mumbai, Jan 17 (PTI) India’s forex reserves dropped by USD 8.714 billion to USD 625.871 billion in the week ended January 10, the RBI said on Friday.

Earlier, the overall kitty dropped by USD 5.693 billion to USD 634.585 billion in the week ended January 3, the Reserve Bank of India said.

The reserves have been on a declining trend for the last few weeks, and the drop has been attributed to revaluation along with forex market interventions by RBI to help reduce volatilities in the rupee. The forex reserves had increased to an all-time high of USD 704.885 billion in end-September.

For the week ended January 10, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by USD 9.469 billion to USD 536.011 billion, the data released on Friday showed.

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 increased by USD 792 million to USD 67.883 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by USD 33 million to USD 17.781 billion, the apex bank said.

India’s reserve position with the IMF was down by USD 4 million at USD 4.195 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.