India’s forex stocks fall $17.761 bn to $657.892 bn

Mumbai: India’s forex reserves dropped by $17.761 billion to $657.892 billion for the week ended November 15, the RBI said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week ended November 8, the overall reserves dropped by $6.477 billion to $675.653 billion.

The kitty, which had hit an all-time high of $704.885 billion in end-September, has been declining for multiple weeks now, at a time when the rupee has also been under pressure.

For the week ended November 15, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $15.548 billion to $569.835 billion, the data released on Friday showed. 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 decreased by $2.068 billion to $65.746 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights were down by $94 million to $18.064 billion, the RBI said.

India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $51 million to $4.247 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.