Forex Reserves Fall By $2.8 Billion To $616.1 Billion, Says RBI

Forex reserves declined by $2.8 billion to $616.14 billion for the week ended Jan. 19.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had increased by $1.634 billion to $618.937 billion.

For the week ended Jan. 19, the foreign currency assets—a major component of the reserves—fell $2.653 billion to $545.85 billion, according to the weekly Reserve Bank of India data released on Friday.

The foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-U.S. units like the euro, pound, and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Gold reserves were down $34 million to $47.212 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights were down $89 million to $18.221 billion, the apex bank said.

Further, the Special Drawing Rights were also down $18 million to $4.854 billion, the apex bank said.

The country's forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion in October 2021. The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments since last year.

So far this fiscal, the reserves have increased $42.41 billion, according to the RBI.