India s Forex reserves drop by over $152 mn

Mumbai March 23 (IANS) India s foreign exchange (Forex) reserves dropped by $152.4 million as on March 16 official data showed on Friday.

The Reserve Bank of India s (RBI) weekly statistical supplement showed that the overall Forex reserves dropped to $421.33 billion from $421.48 billion reported for the week ended March 9.

India s Forex reserves comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs) gold reserves special drawing rights (SDRs) and the RBI s position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Segment-wise FCAs -- the largest component of the Forex reserves -- decreased by $175.2 million to $396.15 billion during the week under review.

Besides the US dollar FCAs consist of nearly 20-30 per cent of major global currencies. It also includes investments in US Treasury bonds bonds of other selected governments and deposits with foreign central and commercial banks.

However the country s gold reserves value rose by $13.2 million to $21.56 billion.

Similarly the SDRs value increased. It inched up by $4.1 million to $1.53 billion while the country s reserve position with the IMF edged-up by $5.5 million to $2.07 billion.

--IANS
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