India's forex reserves down $2 billion

India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves decreased by $2.06 billion to $294.30 billion for the week ended May 3, according to data released by the central bank.

The reserves had risen by $1.60 billion to $296.37 billion for the week ended April 26.

The foreign currency assets (FCA) - the biggest component of the forex reserves - fell by $299.7 million at $263.72 billion, according to the weekly statistical supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India.

The FCA had risen by $1.61 billion at $264.02 billion in the previous week.

The central bank said FCA in US dollar terms included the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies held in reserve, such as the pound sterling, euro and yen.

Gold reserves dipped heavily by 1.71 billion at $23.97 billion. The value of gold reserves remained the same during week ended April 26, at $25.69 billion.

However, the special drawing rights (SDRs) increased by $19.3 million to $4.36 billion during the week under review while reserves with the International Monetary Fund went down by $65.5 million to $2.24 billion.

The SDRs had fallen by $5.00 million to $4.34 billion during the previous week, while reserves with the IMF went down by $2.7 million to $2.30 billion.