India's forex reserves drop $7 billion to $709.76 billion

Mumbai: India's forex reserves dropped $7.052 billion to $709.759 billion during the week ended March 13, the RBI said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped $11.683 billion to $716.81 billion. The kitty jumped USD 4.885 billion to an all-time high of $728.494 billion during the week ended February 27.

For the week ended March 13, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, fell $7.678 billion to $555.568 billion, the data released by the central bank showed.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units, such as the euro, pound, and yen, held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Value of gold reserves increased $664 million to $130.681 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down $23 million to $18.697 billion, the apex bank said.

India's reserve position with the IMF was also down by $15 million to $4.814 billion in the reporting week, according to the apex bank's data.