India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves declined by $12.6 million to $295.50 billion for the week ended Dec 20, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.
This is the second consecutive week of decline in the country’s forex reserves.
The foreign exchange reserves had declined by $192.8 million to $295.51 billion for the week ended Dec 31 after posting strong gains in the previous five weeks largely due to the special swap window opened by the RBI.
According to the RBI’s weekly statistical supplement, foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, dropped by $94.7 million to $268.46 billion. The foreign currency assets had dropped by $191.1 million in the previous week.
According to the RBI, the foreign currency assets, expressed in the US dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies held in reserve, such as the pound sterling, euro and yen.
The value of special drawing rights (SDRs) fell by $9.1 million to $4.43 billion during the week under review.
However, India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by $91.2 million to $1.99 billion.
The value of India’s gold reserves remained unchanged at $20.60 billion.