After life-time high, India's Forex reserves fall $ 2.49 bn to $ 423.58 bn

After touching a life-time high, the country's foreign exchange reserves fell by a whopping $ 2.499 billion to $ 423.582 billion in the week to April 20 due to a decrease in foreign currency assets, RBI data showed.

In the previous week, the reserves had surged by $ 1.217 billion to touch a record high of $ 426.082 billion.

It had crossed the $ 400-billion mark for the first time in the week to September 8, 2017, but has since been fluctuating.

In the reporting week, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, declined by $ 2.492 billion to $ 398.485 billion.

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

Gold reserves remained unchanged at $ 21.484 billion in the reporting week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dipped by $ 3 million to $ 1.537 billion.

The country's reserve position with the IMF also declined by $ 4 million to $ 2.075 billion, the apex bank said.