Foreign exchange stocks drop by $6.052 billion to $593.477 billion

Mumbai: India’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $6.052 billion to $593.477 billion during the week ended May 19, RBI said on Friday.

The drop in the kitty has snapped two consecutive weeks of increases. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had increased by $3.5 billion to take the overall quantum just shy of $600 billion.

In October 2021, the country’s forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion. The reserves have been declining as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments.

For the week ended May 19, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, declined by $4.654 billion to $524.945 billion, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI on Friday.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves. Gold reserves dropped by $1.227 billion to $45.127 billion, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights were down by $137 million to $18.276 billion, the apex bank said. The country’s reserve position with the IMF was down by $35 million to $5.13 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed.