Foreign exchange reserves of India drop to $638.698 billion

Mumbai: Foreign exchange reserves of India dropped by $1.781 billion to $638.698 billion in the week ended February 28. The Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revealed this. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had  gained by $4.758 billion to $640.479 billion.

The forex reserves had dropped by $2.54 billion to $635.721 billion in the week ended on February 14.The forex reserves jumped $7.654 billion to $638.261 billion in the week ended February 7.  In the previous week ended on January 31, the reserves had increased by $1.05 billion to $630.607 billion. In the previous reporting week ended January 24, the reserves  increased $5.574 billion to $629.557 billion.

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The forex reserves had increased to an all-time high of $704.885 billion in end-September. Foreign exchange reserves have declined by almost $80 billion since reaching an all-time high of $705 billion for the week ended September 27.

Forex reserves, or foreign exchange reserves (FX reserves), are assets that are held by a nation’s central bank or monetary authority. It is generally held in reserve currencies, usually the US Dollar and, to a lesser degree, the Euro, Japanese Yen, and Pound Sterling.

The foreign exchange reserves of the country comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs) and the country’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). FCA is the largest component of the forex reserves. It includes the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies like the euro, pound, and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

For the week ended February 28, foreign currency assets, decreased by $493 million to $543.35 billion. Gold reserves decreased by $1.304 billion to $73.272 billion during the week,. The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up by $27 million to $17.998 billion. India’s reserve position with the IMF fell by $12 million to $4.078 billion in the reporting week.