Forex reserves fall by $1.4 bn

Foreign exchange reserves had their second consecutive weekly fall, coming down by $1.37 billion to $291.80 billion on the back of a decline in the core currency assets.

The reserves had dwindled by $2.19 billion to $293.17 billion in the previous reporting week.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the forex reserves, dropped by $1.33 billion to $257.86 billion for the week ended May 11, the Reserve Bank said today.

Foreign currency assets expressed in dollar terms include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies, such as the euro, pound and yen, held in the reserves, the apex bank said.

The gold reserves were unchanged at $26.61 billion, the apex bank said.

For the week under review, the special drawing rights (SDRs) were down by $25.6 million to $4.434 billion, while the country's reserve position with the IMF also fell by $16.7 million to $2.889 billion, the apex bank data showed.