India's forex reserves fell by USD 5.5 bn

Mumbai, Aug 16 (UNI) India's foreign exchange reserves fell sharply by USD 5.46 billion to USD 300.01 billion for the week ended August 8 from USD 305.47 billion during the previous week.

The foreign currency assets (FCA) declined by USD 5.45 billion to USD 289.76 billionn compared to USD 295.216 billion in the previous week, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its weekly report.

The country's forex reserve has shrinked by over USD 10.5 billion in the last two months and fell in the fourth consecutive week on sustained dollar selling by the Central Bank to rein in the value of the rupee, marketmen said.

The FCAs expressed in US dollar terms the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as Euro, Sterling and Yen held in reserves.

The gold reserves and the special drawing rights, during the period, remained unchanged at USD 9.74 billion and USD 11 million respectively, RBI said.

However, India's reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) declined by USD 8 million to USD 504 million from USD 512 million in the previous week, it added.

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