Forex Kitty drops to $640.33 billion from $2.28 billion

For the seven days ended April 19, the nation’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $2.282 billion to $640.334 billion, marking the second consecutive week of declines in the pot, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.

The last reporting week witnessed a $5.401 billion fall in reserves to $643.162 billion, bringing a stop to a multi-week pattern of increases. The week before, the total reserves reached a new all-time high of $648.562 billion.

The nation’s foreign exchange reserves peaked in September 2021 at USD 642.453 billion, a record that was surpassed in March of this year. The reserves had been steadily building over the previous several months, but they suffered a setback when the central bank utilized the kitty to protect the rupee against pressure mostly brought on by outside events. Foreign currency assets, a significant part of reserves, decreased by $3.793 billion to $560.86 billion for the week ended April 19.