India's forex reserves see 8th weekly fall, slide below $600 billion

Mumbai: India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves have slumped below $600 billion mark for the first time in almost a year.

For the week ended April 29, the country's forex reserves dipped by $2.695 billion to $597.728 billion, according to the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement. This is the eighth consecutive weekly fall in India's forex reserves.

The country's forex reserves have fallen below the $600-billion-mark for the first time in almost a year. The last time India's forex reserves were below the $600-billion-mark was during the week ended May 28, 2021.

India's forex reserves have fallen sharply after touching an all-time high of $642.453 billion on September 3, 2021.

All components of the forex reserves declined during the week ended April 29.

India's foreign currency assets, which is the biggest component of the forex reserves, dropped by $1.11 billion to $532.823 billion during the week under review, the RBI data showed.

Expressed in US dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-dollar currencies like Euro, UK's Pound Sterling and Japanese Yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

The value of gold reserves slumped by $1.164 billion to $41.604 billion during the week under review.

The value of India's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell by $362 million to $18.299 billion.

India's reserve position in the IMF dropped by $59 million to $5.001 billion during the week ended April 29, the RBI data showed.