The country's foreign exchange reserves fell by a whopping $11.98 billion to $469.909 billion in the week to March 20 as the Reserve Bank continued to supply dollars into the market to stem fall in the rupee.
The rupee hit an all-time low of 76.15 against the US dollar on March 23 as foreign investors continued to withdraw money from domestic equity and debt market amid uncertainties due to the fast-spreading coronavirus.
In the previous week, the country's foreign exchange reserves fell by $ 5.346 billion to $ 481.89 billion. This was the first decline in the country's reserve in almost six months.
The reserves had touched a life-time high of $ 487.23 billion in the week to March 6, after it rose by $ 5.69 billion.
During the week to March 20, the foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, declined by $ 10.256 billion to $ 437.102 billion.
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.
The gold reserve, which was rising for the past many weeks, decreased by $ 1.610 billion to $ 27.856 billion in the week under review, the RBI data showed. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were down by $ 40 million to $ 1.409 billion.
The country's reserve position with the IMF dipped by $ 77 million to $ 3.542 billion, the data showed.
Source:- moneycontrol.com