India’s Forex reserves dip by USD 59 million

After rising for two weeks, India’s foreign exchange reserves slid by USD 59 million to USD 295 billion, the Reserve Bank said Saturday. The total foreign exchange reserves had risen by USD 1.61 billion to USD 296.05 billion in the previous reporting week. Foreign currency assets, a major component of the forex reserves, fell by USD 1.50 billion to USD 259.56 billion for the week ended March 2, pti reported quoting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). However, the heavy fall in the foreign currency assets was offset by a surge in the value of gold reserves, which went up by USD 1.4 billion to USD 28.13 billion, after remaining unchanged for weeks. Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar terms include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies, such as the euro, pound and yen, held in the reserves, the apex bank said. For the week under review, special drawing rights (SDRs) decreased USD 23.8 million to USD 4.457 billion, while the country's reserve position in the IMF swelled by USD 70.3 million to USD 2.807 billion, the apex bank data showed.