Forex reserves down by $4.18 billion

The foreign exchange reserves plummeted by $4.18 billion to $287.90 billion for the week ended May 31 in the wake of sharp fall in currency assets and gold reserves, the Reserve Bank said today.

Total forex reserves had risen by $110 million to $292.07 billion in the previous reporting week.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the forex reserves, dipped by $3.056 billion to $258.51 billion for the week ended May 31, the Reserve Bank said in data released today.

Foreign currency assets expressed in US 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 went down by $1.138 billion to $22.836 billion, the apex bank said.

For the week under review, the special drawing rights (SDRs) were up by $10.4 million to $4.327 billion, while the country's reserve position with the IMF was also up by $5.3 million to $2.225 billion, the apex bank data showed.