India's forex reserves drop $11.41 billion to $698.346 billion: RBI data

India's forex reserves dropped by $11.413 billion to $698.346 billion during the week ended March 20 due to a sharp decrease in gold reserves, the RBI said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped $7.052 billion to $709.759 billion.

The kitty had expanded to an all-time high of $728.494 billion during the week ended February 27 this year, before the onset of the West Asia conflict.

For the week ended March 20, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $2.127 billion to $557.695 billion, the central bank's data showed.

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 the foreign exchange reserves.

 

However, the value of gold reserves decreased by $13.495 billion to $117.186 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down $65 million to $18.632 billion, the apex bank said.

India's reserve position with the IMF was up by $19 million to $4.833 billion in the reporting week, according to the apex bank's data.