In second consecutive week of decline, foreign exchange reserves fell by $2.28 billion to $640.33 billion

Mumbai: India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $2.282 billion to $640.334 billion in the seven days ended April 19, falling for the second consecutive week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday. Reserves fell $5.401 billion to $643.162 billion in the previous reporting week, ending a multi-week rising trend, taking total reserves to a new all-time high of $648.562 billion for the week ended April 5.

In September 2021, the country’s forex kitty reached an all-time high of $642.453 billion, which was breached in March this year. Reserves were hit by the central bank’s deployment of reserves to protect the rupee amid pressures caused by global events, but have steadily increased over the past few months. Foreign currency assets, a key component of reserves, declined by $3.793 billion to $560.86 billion in the week ended April 19, according to data released on Friday.

Expressed in dollar terms, foreign exchange assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units such as the euro, pound and yen held in foreign exchange reserves. The RBI said gold reserves continued to rise and increased by $1.01 billion during the week to $56.808 billion. The apex bank said special drawing rights (SDRs) declined by $43 million to $18.034 billion. India’s reserve position with the IMF also declined by $2 million to $4.631 billion in the week under review, data from the apex bank showed.