India's forex reserves fell to $616.9 billion as of August 20

India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $2.47 billion to $616.9 billion as of August 20, compared to $619.37 billion a week earlier, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.

Changes in foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of other currencies held in RBI's reserves.

In the reporting week, the decrease in the reserves was due to a drop in the foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, as per weekly data by the RBI.


FCAs fell by $3.365 billion to $573.009 billion as compared to $576.374 the week earlier.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Foreign exchange reserves also include India's Reserve Tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.

Gold reserves were up by $913 million to $37.249 billion in the reporting week as compared to the weak before, the data showed.

The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dipped by $3 million to $1.541 billion.

The country's reserve position with the IMF also fell by $15million to $5.096 billion, as per the data.

India's forex kitty had increased by $889 million to a lifetime high of $621.464 billion in the week ended August 6, 2021.