India’s Forex reserves decline by $443 mn

Mumbai: India’s foreign exchange (Forex) reserves declined by $443.6 million as on May 12, 2017.

The Reserve Bank of India’s weekly statistical supplement released on Friday showed that the overall Forex reserves decreased to $375.27 billion from $375.71 billion reported for the week ended May 5.

India’s Forex reserves comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold, special drawing rights (SDRs) and the RBI’s position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Segment-wise, FCAs — the largest component of the Forex reserves — edged lower by $429.4 million to $351.10 billion during the week under review.

Besides the US dollar, FCAs consist of nearly 20-30 per cent of major (non-US) global currencies. The FCAs also include investments in US Treasury bonds, bonds of other selected governments, deposits with foreign central and commercial banks. The country’s gold reserves were stagnant at $20.43 billion.

However, the SDRs’ value fell by $5.5 million to $1.45 billion. The country’s reserve position with the IMF inched down by $8.7 million to $2.28 billion. (IANS)