A week after rising $1.65 billion, India’s forex reserves dropped $2.164 billion to $584.248 billion during the week ended April 21, according to the latest RBI data. In the previous reporting week, the overall forex reserves had risen by $1.657 billion to $586.412 billion. The kitty had gone up by a total of nearly $8 billion in the prior two weeks.
In the week ended April 7, India’s forex reserves had jumped to $584.76 billion, the highest in nine months.
In October 2021, the country’s forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion. The reserves have been declining as the central bank deployed the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments.
For the week ended April 21, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $2.146 billion to $514.489 billion, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI.
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 dropped by $24 million to $46.151 billion, the RBI said. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up by $19 million to $18.431 billion, the apex bank said.
The country’s reserve position with the IMF was down by $14 million to $5.176 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.
The rupee on Friday pared all its initial gains to settle lower by 3 paise at 81.82 against the US currency on Friday amid a strong greenback overseas. However, the strong sentiment in the domestic equities market and fresh foreign fund inflows restricted the depreciating bias in the rupee, forex traders said.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.51 per cent to 102.02.
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