The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on April 7 that a reduction in gold holdings caused a USD 329 million decline in India’s Foreign Exchange (FOREX) reserves, which fell to USD 578.449 billion for the week ending March 31.
The FX kitty increased by USD 5.977 billion to USD 578.778 billion for the week ending March 24 after seeing significant gains in the previous two reporting weeks. The total kitty has decreased by USD 28.86 billion for fiscal year 23. It should be mentioned that the nation’s foreign exchange reserves hit an all-time high of USD 645 billion in October 2021.
The reserves have been dropping as the central bank uses its funds to protect the rupee against pressures mostly brought on by international events. According to the Weekly Statistics Supplement published by the RBI on April 7, the foreign currency assets, a significant part of the reserves, fell by USD 36 million to USD 509.691 billion for the week ending March 31. The value of the gain or depreciation of non-US currencies like the euro, pound, and yen held in foreign exchange reserves is included in the foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms. According to the RBI, gold reserves fell by USD 279 million to USD 45.20 billion.
According to the top bank, the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) decreased by USD 27 million to USD 18.392 billion. According to statistics from the apex bank, the nation’s reserve position with the IMF increased by USD 14 million to USD 5.165 billion in the reporting week.
