Forex reserves drop USD 2 bn to USD 652.86 bn

Mumbai, Dec 20 (PTI) India’s forex reserves dropped by USD 1.988 billion to USD 652.869 billion for the week ended December 13, the RBI said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped by USD 3.235 billion to USD 654.857 billion.

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

For the week ended December 13, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by USD 3.047 billion to USD 562.576 billion, the data released on Friday showed.

Expressed in US 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 1.121 billion to USD 68.056 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by USD 35 million to USD 17.997 billion, the apex bank said.

India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by USD 27 million to USD 4.24 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.