India forex reserves tumble $10 bn to $688 bn on RBI action

FPJ News Service

mumbai

India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $10.29 billion to $688.06 billion during the week ended March 27, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

This follows a sharper drop of $11.41 billion in the previous week, after reserves had touched an all-time high of $728.49 billion in late February, before the onset of the West Asia conflict. 

The decline has been largely attributed to RBI’s intervention in the forex market to support the rupee, which has come under pressure amid global uncertainties. 

 The central bank has been selling dollars and taking policy measures to stabilise the currency.

Foreign currency assets, the largest component of reserves, fell by $6.62 billion to $551.07 billion. These assets reflect the impact of currency movements such as fluctuations in the euro, pound and yen.Gold reserves also dropped by $3.67 billion to $113.52 billion during the week. 

Meanwhile, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) rose marginally by $17 million to $18.65 billion.India’s reserve position with the IMF declined slightly by $17 million to $4.82 billion, the RBI data showed.