Forex reserves declined by USD 2.11 bn to USD 398.12 bn

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data stated that the country's foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 2.119 billion to USD 398.122 billion in the week to February 8, due to fall in foreign currency assets.

In the previous week, the reserves had surged by USD 2.063 billion to USD 400.24 billion. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, fell by USD 2.448 billion to USD 370.981 billion.

Expressed in US dollars, foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of nonUS currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in the reserves.

The reserves had touched a record high of USD 426.028 billion in the week to April 13, 2018. Since then, the forex kitty has been on a slide and is now down by over USD 31 billion.

Gold reserves remained unchanged at USD 22.686 billion in the reporting week, the data showed. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decreased by USD 8 million to USD 1.462 billion.