Forex reserves dip $1bn to $162bn

MUMBAI: India’s foreign exchange reserves dipped $1bn during the week ended June 23, with the central bank seen selling dollar in the market. According to figures released by RBI in its weekly statistical supplement, foreign exchange reserves including gold and SDR dipped $1,073m to $161.9bn during the week ended June 23.

While foreign currency assets dipped $1,070m, the reserve tranche position with the IMF slid by $3m. The level of gold and SDR in reserves, however, remained unchanged.

In other developments, both the Centre and the state refrained from resorting to ways and means advances (WMA) — a temporary advance to meet revenue mismatches. The Centre, on the other hand, has again started parking surplus revenues with RBI after maintaining only minimum balances for several weeks. Surplus balances with RBI went up Rs 1,507 crore during the week to Rs 1,608 crore.