India's Forex Reserves Fall Sharply By Nearly $10 Billion

India's forex reserves dropped by $9.81 billion to $686.801 billion in the week to Jan. 2, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the forex reserves had jumped by $3.293 billion to $696.61 billion.

For the week ended Jan. 2, foreign currency assets, a major component of reserves, decreased by $7.622 billion to $551.99 billion, the central bank's data 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 dropped by $2.058 billion to $111.262 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by $25 million to USD 18.778 billion, the apex bank said.

India's reserve position with the IMF dropped by $105 million to $4.771 billion in the reporting week, according to the apex bank's data.