Forex reserves decline by $571 mn to $563.5 bn

After rising for five consecutive weeks, India's forex kitty dropped $571 million to $563.5 billion for the week ended December 16, according to RBI data released on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had swelled $2.91 billion to $564.06 billion, making it the fifth straight week of an increase in the kitty after a protracted decline.

In October 2021, the country's foreign exchange kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion.

The reserves had been declining as the central bank deployed the reserve to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments.

Foreign Currency Assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, decreased $500 million to $499.62 billion during the week to December 16, as per the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

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

Gold reserves decreased $150 million to $40.58 billion, it said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) jumped $75 million to $18.181 billion.

The country's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also rose $4 million to $5.11 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.