NEW DELHI: The country’s forex reserves decreased by $2.282 billion to $640.334 billion for the seven days ending April 19 in the second consecutive week of drop in the kitty, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.
Reserves had declined by $5.401 billion to $643.162 billion in the previous reporting week, ending a multi-week trend of an increase, which also saw the overall reserves touching a new all-time high of $648.562 billion for the week ending April 5.
In September 2021, the country’s forex kitty had reached a high of USD 642.453 billion, which was breached in March this year. The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global events, but there had been a steady accretion over the past few months. For the week ending April 19, foreign currency assets, a major component of reserves, fell by $3.793 billion to $560.86 billion.