Forex kitty drops $8 billion to $688.894 billion

India’s forex reserves dropped $8.094 billion to $688.894 billion during the week ended May 15, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.

The overall reserves had jumped by $6.295 billion to $696.988 billion during the week ended May 8.

The kitty had expanded to an all-time high of $728.494 billion during the week ended February 27 this year, before the onset of the Middle East conflict, which led to several weeks of a drop as the rupee came under pressure and the RBI had to intervene in the forex market through dollar sales.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also made multiple public appeals starting May 11 to countrymen to conserve forex by cutting down on foreign travel, limiting fuel use and refraining from gold buys for a year.

For the week ended May 15, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $6.483 billion to $545.904 billion, the central bank’s data 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 also declined $1.536 billion to $119.317 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The special drawing rights (SDRs) were down by $49 million to $18.824 billion, the apex bank said.

India’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $25 million to $4.85 billion at the end of the reporting week, according to the apex bank’s data.