MUMBAI: India’s forex reserves continued their downward trend for the eighth consecutive week, falling by 1.31 billion dollars to 656.582 billion dollars for the week ending 22 November.
This follows a record plunge of 17.76 billion dollars in the previous week, marking the steepest fall on record as the rupee faced relentless depreciation.
According to the weekly statistical supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, the country’s foreign currency assets, which constitute the largest component of the reserves, declined by 3.043 billion dollars to 566.791 billion dollars. This marks eight straight weeks of decline in the reserves.
During the reporting week, the rupee hit an all-time low, breaching the 84.50-mark multiple times. On Thursday, it reached a new intraday low of 84.53 before closing at 84.49. The currency closed flat on Friday as well.
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 the forex reserves.
The forex reserves had dropped a record 17.761 billion dollars to 657.892 billion dollars in the previous reporting week, which ended on 15 November. The reserves had previously hit an all-time high of 704.885 billion dollars for the week ending 27 September.
Meanwhile, gold reserves showed a positive trend, increasing by $1.828 billion to 67.573 billion dollars during the week. However, the special drawing rights (SDRs) declined by 79 million dollars to 17.985 billion dollars, and the country’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell by 15 million dollars to 4.232 billion dollars, the RBI noted.