India’s foreign exchange reserves fall by US$ 908 mn to US$ 640 bn

TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ The country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by US$ 908 million to US$ 640.1 billion in the week ended October 22, RBI data showed. In the previous week ended October 15, the reserves had increased by US$ 1.492 billion to US$ 641.008 billion. The reserves had touched a lifetime high of US$ 642.453 billion in the week ended September 3, 2021.

In the reporting week ended October 22, the dip in the reserves was due to a fall in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, and in the gold reserves, Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly data released on Friday showed. FCA declined by US$ 853 million to US$ 577.098 billion in the reporting week, the data 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 were down by US$ 138 million to US$ 38.441 billion in the reporting week, the data showed. The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by US$ 74 million to US$ 19.321 billion. The country’s reserve position with the IMF increased by US$ 10 million to US$ 5.240 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.