India’s Forex reserves down by $211 mn

Mumbai, Aug 25 (IANS) India’s foreign exchange (Forex) reserves kitty depleted by $211 million as on August 18, 2017, official data showed on Friday. 

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly statistical supplement released on Friday showed that the overall Forex reserves declined to $393.40 billion from $393.61 billion reported for the week ended August 11.

India’s Forex reserves comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs) and the RBI’s position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Segment-wise, FCAs — the largest component of the Forex reserves — declined by $208.1 million to $369.69 billion during the week under review.

Besides the US dollar, FCAs consist of nearly 20-30 per cent of major (non-US) global currencies. The FCAs also include investments in US Treasury bonds, bonds of other selected governments and deposits with foreign central and commercial banks.

The country’s gold reserves were stagnant at $19.94 billion.

However, the SDRs’ value dipped by $1.2 million to $1.49 billion.

Similarly, the country’s reserve position with the IMF slipped by $1.8 million to $2.26 billion.