India's Forex Reserves Slips To $685 Billion, Gold Holdings Down
For the week ended May 16, foreign currency assets—a major component of the reserves—was flat at $581 billion, according to the RBI data.
India's foreign exchange reserves slipped to $685.72 billion for the week that ended on May 16, primarily due to the reduction in gold holdings. This marks a decline of $4.888 billion when compared to the previous reporting week, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India on Friday.
The country's forex kitty had risen by $4.553 billion in the preceding seven days, standing at $690 billion for the week that ended on May 9. This rise was primarily due to a bump up in the RBI's gold holdings.
The country's forex holdings are the fourth largest after China, Japan and Switzerland. Reserves have steadily recovered after a steep fall from their peak of $700 billion at the end of September.
Besides, foreign investors have pulled out over $10 billion from the country's debt and equity markets so far this year, according to data from the National Securities Depository Ltd.
For the week ended May 16, foreign currency assets—a major component of the reserves—was flat at $581 billion, according to the RBI data. In dollar terms, foreign currency assets include the effect of the appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in foreign exchange reserves.
Gold reserves declined by $5.121 billion to $81.2 billion during the week.
