India's forex reserves fall $9.3B to $689B
What's the story
India's foreign exchange reserves have witnessed a major dip of $9.32 billion, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The total reserves now stand at $688.87 billion for the week ending August 1. This comes after a previous week's increase of $2.7 billion, which had raised the reserves to $698.19 billion as of July 25.
Asset depreciation
Foreign currency assets fall
The latest RBI data also shows a fall in foreign currency assets, which are the biggest chunk of the reserves. These assets fell by $7.31 billion to $581.61 billion during the week ending August 1. Gold holdings also witnessed a decline, falling by $1.7 billion to $83.99 billion during this period, according to the central bank's release.
Further declines
SDRs and IMF reserve position decline
The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) also witnessed a decline of $237 million, taking the total to $18.57 billion. Meanwhile, India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell by $120 million to $4.69 billion during this period. The RBI keeps a close watch on foreign exchange market developments and intervenes when needed to ensure orderly trading conditions.