India's FE kitty down by $621 m

The foreign reserves kitty has declined sharply for the second consecutive week after surging to an all-time high of $319.08 billion recorded during the week ended July 29.  The forex reserves had declined by $1.86 billion to $317.22 billion in the previous week under review.

Foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves kitty, declined by $652 million to $283.66 billion during the week ended August 12, according to RBI’s weekly statistical supplement.

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.

However, the value of special drawing rights increased by $19 million to $4.61 billion and reserves with the International Monetary Fund rose by $12 million to $2.97 billion. The value of gold reserves remained unchanged at $25.35 billion.