India's foreign reserves down $471 million

Mumbai: India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $471 million to $319.23 billion for the week ended Jan 2, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.

In the previous week (Dec 26) the reserves had decreased by $287.5 million to $319.71 billion.

According to the RBI's weekly statistical supplement, foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, declined by $863 million at $294.53 billion in the week under review.

The foreign currency assets had lost $271 million at $295.39 billion in the previous week (Dec 26).

The RBI said the foreign currency assets, expressed in US dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the pound sterling, euro and yen held in reserve.

India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the week ended Jan 2 fell by $0.2 million and stood at $1.13 billion.

The value of special drawing rights (SDRs) was lower by $0.7 million in the week under review at $4.18 billion.

Gold reserves for the week under review grew by $392 million at $19.37 billion. The bullion was static at $18.98 billion in the previous week (Dec 26).