Forex kitty drops $867 million to $593.04 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves declined $867 million to $593.04 billion in the week ended September 15, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves dropped $4.99 billion to $593.90 billion.

In October 2021, the country's reserves had touched an all-time high of $645 billion.

The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments since last year.

For the week ended September 15, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased $511 million to $525.91 billion, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Gold reserves were down $384 million to $44 billion, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up $32 million to $18.092 billion, the apex bank said.

The country's reserve position with the IMF was down $4 million to $5.03 billion in the reporting week.