India’s Foreign Exchange Reserves down $98 mn to $322 bn

India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $97.9 million to $322.03 billion for the week ended Jan 23, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed. In the previous week (Jan 16) the reserves went up by $2.66 billion to $322.13 billion. According to the RBI’s weekly statistical supplement, foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, decreased $19.7 million at $297.51 billion in the week under review.

The foreign currency assets had increased by $2.68 billion at $297.53 billion in the previous week (Jan 16). The RBI said the foreign currency assets, expressed in US dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the pound sterling, euro and yen held in reserve.

India’s foreign exchange reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the week ended Jan 23 fell by $16.8 million and stood at $1.10 billion. The value of special drawing rights (SDRs) was lower by $61.4 million in the week under review at $4.04 billion. Gold reserves for the week ended Jan 23 was static at $19.37 billion. The reserves had grown by $392 million at $19.37 billion in the week ended Jan 9. (IANS)