Mumbai: After touching a life-time high, the country's foreign exchange reserves fell by a whopping USD 2.499 billion to USD 423.582 billion in the week to April 20 due to a decrease in foreign currency assets, RBI data showed.
In the previous week, the reserves had surged by USD 1.217 billion to touch a record high of USD 426.082 billion. It had crossed the USD 400-billion mark for the first time in the week to September 8, 2017, but has since been fluctuating.
In the reporting week, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, declined by USD 2.492 billion to USD 398.485 billion.
Expressed in the US dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies such as the euro, the pound and the yen held in the reserves. Gold reserves remained unchanged at USD 21.484 billion in the reporting week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.
The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dipped by USD 3 million to USD 1.537 billion. The country's reserve position with the IMF also declined by USD 4 million to USD 2.075 billion, the apex bank said.
