Forex exchange reserves down by $1.444 billion to $392.078 billion; gold reserves remain unchanged

Mumbai: Continuing its decline, the country’s foreign exchange reserves slumped by $1.444 billion to $392.078 billion in the week to 26 October due to a fall in foreign currency assets, according to RBI data. In the previous week, the reserves had declined by $942 million to $393.523 billion. [caption id=“attachment_1374421” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, a major component of overall reserves, fell by $1.426 billion to $367.350 billion, as per the RBI data. Expressed in US dollars, foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, the pound and the yen held in the reserves. Forex reserves had touched a record high of $426.028 billion in the week to 13 April, 2018. Since then, the forex kitty has been on a slide and is now down by over $31 billion. Gold reserves remained unchanged for the second consecutive week at $20.522 billion, the data showed. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was down by $7 million to $1.458 billion. The country’s reserve position with the IMF also declined by $11.6 million to $2.447 billion, the apex bank said.