India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $997 million to reach approx $638.65 billion in the week ending September 24, RBI data revealed on Friday. The apex bank stated that the fall in reserves was on account of a fall in the foreign currency assets (FCAs) which is a major component of the overall reserves.
As per the data, FCAs declined by approx $1.26 billion to $576.73 billion. Expressed in dollar terms, foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in forex reserves.
In the previous week ended September 17, 2021, the reserves fell by $1.47 billion to $639.642 billion. Forex reserves had surged by approx $8.9 billion to a lifetime high of approx $642.45 billion for the week ending September 3, 2021.
Gold reserves spiked by $327 million to $37.43 billion for the same time period.
The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) declined by $55 million to about $19.38 billion. India's reserve position with the IMF also decreased by $13 million to about $5.11 billion, the data revealed.
