India's Foreign Exchange Reserves Decline by $2.69 Billion

According to information released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, India's foreign exchange reserves recorded a decline of $2.691 billion during the week ending October 30. Following this decrease, the total reserves reached $717.056 billion. In the preceding week, there was also a decline of $1.269 billion in the reserves, bringing them to $719.748 billion.

According to a report by Business Standard, foreign exchange reserves had reached a peak of $785.706 billion during the week ending September 4. This surge was due to currency flows as part of special concessional swaps for deposits made by the diaspora, through which banks had collected a record $133 billion. However, a decline in reserves has been observed since then. Experts attribute this decrease to the utilization of FCNR(B) resources and currency defense measures undertaken by the RBI through the sale of dollars.

According to RBI data, foreign currency assets, the main component of the reserves, decreased by $2.088 billion and now stand at $591.118 billion. This asset includes the impact of increases or decreases in the value of non-US units such as the Euro, Pound, and Yen. Additionally, the value of gold reserves decreased by $559 million, standing at $102.591 billion.

According to the central bank, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) decreased by $47 million to $18.558 billion. On the other hand, India's reserve position in the IMF increased by $3 million to $4.79 billion.