For the week ending August 19, the country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $6.69 billion to $564 billion, according to the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. The reserves have dropped to their lowest level since October 2020.
Foreign exchange reserves have fallen by nearly $9 billion in the last two weeks.
According to data released by the RBI on Friday, the drop was primarily due to a $5.8 billion decrease in foreign currency assets, followed by a $704 million decrease in gold reserves.
Foreign exchange reserves reached an all-time high of $642 billion for the week ending September 3, 2021, covering more than 14 months of imports projected for 2021-22. Reserves have fallen by $78 billion. The current level of reserves can cover about 9 months of imports projected for 2022-23.
The central bank has been aggressively selling dollars in the foreign exchange market to prevent a sharp fall in the rupee, which is one of the main reasons for the reserves falling. In 2022, the rupee has fallen nearly 7% against the dollar.
Source:BS