Forex Reserves Slip By $4.47 Billion On Decrease In Gold Value

During the week ended Nov. 21, India's forex reserves depleted by $4.472 billion to $688.104 billion due to a steep decrease in the value of gold reserves, the RBI said on Friday.

In stark contrast to this, the overall reserves had seen an uptick by $5.543 billion to $692.576 billion in the previous reporting week.

For the week ended Nov. 21, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $1.69 billion to $560.6 billion, the data released showed.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units, such as the euro, pound, and yen, held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Value of the gold reserves decreased by $2.675 billion to $104.182 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) also decreased by $84 million to $18.566 billion, the apex bank said.

India's reserve position with the IMF also fell by $23 million to $4.757 billion in the reporting week, according to the apex bank's data.

The Indian rupee weakened 16 paise to 89.47 against US Dollar at close. Intraday, the local currency hit a record low of 89.49 a dollar. On Thursday, the currency had closed at 89.31 a dollar.

Quant Mutual Fund Founder Sandeep Tandon expects that the Indian rupee's depreciating cycle against the US dollar will soon peak out. He sees the Indian currency gaining against the greenback from here on.

According to Tandon, the rupee will settle somewhere near 90-a-dollar mark in the near future.

(With PTI Inputs)