Forex reserves drop to $400.84 bn due to fall in foreign currency assets

India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $33.2 million to $400.847 billion in the week to August 17 mainly due to fall in foreign currency assets, according to RBI data.  

In the previous week, the forex reserves had witnessed a drop of $1.822 billion to $400.881 billion.

The reserves have been declining in the past few weeks as the Reserve Bank is selling the US dollar to contain depreciation in the rupee, which is frequently testing the 70-level against the American unit. 

The rupee opened on Friday at 70.24 a dollar and closed at 69.91. The Indian unit had hit an intra-day low of $ 70.40 on April 14, 2018.
 

In the week ended August 17, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, dipped by $60.2 million to $376.205 billion, as per data.

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

Gold reserves rose by $36.1 million to $20.727 billion in the reporting week.

The special drawing rights with International Monetary Fund (IMF) dipped by $3.4 million to $1.463 billion.

The country's reserve position with the IMF also declined by $5.7 million to $2.452 billion, the apex bank said.