Foreign exchange reserves drop to six-week low at $640.33 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves fell for a second consecutive week and stood at a six-week low of $640.33 billion as of April 19, data from the central bank showed on Friday.
 

The reserves fell by $2.83 billion in the reporting week, adding to the previous week's $5.4 billion drop.
 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervenes in the foreign exchange market to curb excess volatility in the rupee.
 

For the week to which the foreign exchange data pertains, the rupee had fallen to a lifetime low of 83.5750 to the dollar but logged marginal weekly losses.
 

The RBI sold around $1.5 billion in the non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market last Friday, when the Iran-Israel flare-up pressured the rupee, Reuters reported, citing sources.
 

Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the RBI's intervention as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves.
 

Foreign exchange reserves also include India's reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.
 

The currency settled at 83.35 and logged a weekly rise of 0.15%, its strongest since the week ended Feb. 2.