India’s forex reserves fell $2.597 billion in the week ended March 18
Bombay (Maharashtra):
India’s foreign exchange reserves (forex) fell $2.59 billion in the week ending March 18, falling sharply for the second consecutive week as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sold heavy dollars to prevent the rupee’s value from deteriorating. would fall.
According to the RBI’s weekly statistical supplement, the country’s forex reserves fell $2.597 billion to $619.678 billion in the week ending March 18. The value of gold reserves and foreign currency assets fell sharply.
This is the second consecutive week of a sharp decline in the country’s forex reserves.
In the week ending March 11, India’s forex reserves were down $9.646 billion, the sharpest drop in nearly two years. The sharp drop in the country’s forex reserves has coincided with the week when the rupee hit an all-time low. The Indian rupee fell to a record low of 77.02 against a US dollar on March 7.
Foreign currency assets, the largest component of forex reserves, fell $703 million to $553,656 billion in the week ending March 18. Foreign currency assets were down $11.108 billion in the past week.
Expressed in US dollars, foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-dollar currencies such as the euro, British pound sterling and Japanese yen held in foreign exchange reserves.
The value of gold reserves fell by $1.831 billion to $42.011 billion in the week under review. The value of gold reserves was up $1.522 billion in the week ended March 11, as a result of a sharp rise in gold prices in international markets.
The value of India’s special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell by $62 million to $18.865 billion. India’s reserve position in the IMF, however, remained unchanged at $5.146 billion during the week ending March 18, RBI data showed.
