Forex reserves down by USD 2.676 bn to USD 593.279 bn
The country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 2.676 billion to stand at USD 593.279 billion in the week ended May 13, RBI data showed on Friday.
In the previous week, the reserves had declined by USD 1.774 billion to USD 595.954 billion.
According to an article ‘State of the Economy’, published in the RBI’s Bulletin for May, foreign exchange reserves at USD 596 billion as on May 6 were equivalent to about 10 months of imports projected for 2022-23.
During the reporting week, the fall in the reserves was mainly on account of a drop in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, and gold reserves, as per weekly data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
FCAs declined by USD 1.302 billion to USD 529.554 billion in the week.
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 USD 1.169 billion to USD 40.57 billion.
The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dipped by USD 165 million to USD 18.204 billion, RBI said.
The country’s reserve position with the IMF decreased by USD 39 million to USD 4.951 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.