The country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $942 million to $393.523 billion in the week to October 19 on account of a fall in foreign currency assets, according to RBI data. In the previous week, the reserves had seen a steep fall of $5.14 billion to reach $394.465 billion. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, a major component of overall reserves, fell by $922.4 million to $369.076 billion, as per the RBI data. Expressed in US dollars, foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies such as the euro, the pound and the yen held in the reserves. Forex reserves had touched a record high of $426.028 billion in the week to April 13, 2018. Since then, the forex kitty has been on a slide and is now down by over $31 billion. Gold reserves remained unchanged at $20.522 billion in the reporting week, the data showed. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was down by $7.3 million to $1.465 billion. The country’s reserve position with the IMF also declined by $12.3 million to $2.495 billion, the apex bank said.
Forex reserves down by $942 mn to $393.523 bn; gold reserves unchanged: RBI
