Despite massive inflows through NRI deposits under the special dollar swap window opened by the Reserve Bank, the forex reserves fell by $14.881 billion to $765.901 billion for the week to September 18, mainly due to a decline in foreign currency assets.
In the previous reporting week, forex reserves had fallen by $4.924 billion to $780.782 billion, down from the record high it scaled in the previous reporting week when it stood at $785.71 billion, posting its biggest gain in history by $44.903 billion. For the reporting week, foreign currency assets, which are the single largest component of the reserves, fell by $14.816 billion to $630.980 billion, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank Friday.
Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units, such as the euro, pound, and the yen, held in foreign exchange reserves.
However, the value of gold reserves increased by $68 million to $111.292 billion during the week, the RBI said, adding the special drawing rights declined by $106 million to $18.739 billion and the reserve position with the International Monetary Fund stood unchanged at $4.89 billion.