Foreign exchange reserves fell in the week ending January 3 to $ 2.60 billion to $ 293.11 billion, shows Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data released Friday. As per data, this is one of the sharpest week on week fall in reserves.
According to state-run bank currency dealers the steep fall in reserves was because RBI was intervening in the foreign exchange market to arrest the volatility in the rupee.
Foreign currency assets, a key component of reserves fell by $ 1.68 billion to $266.95 billion. Gold reserves fell by $ 878.6 million to $ 19.72 billion.
For the week under review, the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) fell by $ 27.8 million to $ 4.43 billion, while India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund was down $ 12.5 million to almost $ 2.00 billion.