India's foreign exchange reserves drop by $2.69 billion to $717 billion

India's forex reserves dropped by $2.691 billion to $717.056 billion during the week ended October 30, the RBI said on Friday.

In the previous week, the forex kitty had reduced by $1.269 billion to $719.748 billion.

The reserves had touched an all-time high of $785.706 billion during the week ended September 4, driven by a heavy flow of currency as part of a special concessional swap for deposits from the diaspora through which banks raised a record $133 billion, but have been on a decline ever since.

Experts attribute this decline to the deployment of the FCNR(B) resources and also to currency defence put up by RBI through dollar sales.

 

During the week ended October 30, foreign currency assets, a major component of reserves, decreased by $2.088 billion to $591.118 billion, according to the data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units, such as the euro, pound, and yen, held in foreign exchange reserves.

The value of gold reserves decreased by $559 million to $102.591 billion during the week, RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by $47 million to $18.558 billion, the central bank said.

India's reserve position with the IMF was up by $3 million to $4.79 billion, RBI said.