Mumbai: India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves touched two-month low. Foreign exchange reserves of India declined by $1.13 billion to $616.10 billion for the week ended on February 16. The Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) revealed this. In the week ended February 9, forex reserves drop by $5.27 billion to reach $617.23 billion. This was the steepest fall in a month, after having risen by a total of $6.36 billion in the prior two weeks.The reserves were last lower when they stood at $615.97 billion as on December 15.
Forex reserves, or foreign exchange reserves (FX reserves), are assets that are held by a nation’s central bank or monetary authority. It is generally held in reserve currencies, usually the US Dollar and, to a lesser degree, the Euro, Japanese Yen, and Pound Sterling.
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The foreign exchange reserves of the country comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs) and the country’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). FCA is the largest component of the forex reserves. It includes the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies like the euro, pound, and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
The foreign currency assets decreased by $740 million to $545.78 billion. Gold reserves were down by $362 million to $47.38 billion. The Special Drawing Rights were down $28 million to $18.11 billion. India’s reserve position in the International Monetary Fund were down by $1 million to $4.83 billion.