Foreign reserves plunge by $1.03 billion on currency fluctuations

Currency fluctuations coupled with international financial instability, saw India's foreign exchange reserves plunging by $1.03 billion in the week ended July 17.

Data furnished by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its weekly statistical supplement, showed that India's foreign exchange reserves stood at $353.32 billion.

This is the fourth straight week of decline in foreign reserves. The reserves had plunged by $237.5 million (June 26).

The foreign reserves had tripped on Greece's debt crisis and Chinese stock markets crash. They had then receded by over $700 million for the week ended July 3. Before that the reserves had fallen by 156.9 million to $354.36 billion (July 11).

Foreign exchange reserves till now had increased by close to $35-$40 billion since last year as overseas investors, buoyed by the hope of economic revival, poured in dollars in the local debt and equities markets.

During the week under review the foreign currency assets (FCAs) which constitutes the largest component of the forex reserves declined by $982 million and stood at $328.93 billion.

The country's gold reserves were stagnant at $19.07 billion.

The special drawing rights (SDRs) were down by $39.6 million to $4.01 billion. The country's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell by $12.8 million to $1.30 billion.