The country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 1.466 billion to USD 633.614 billion in the week ended December 31, RBI data showed.

In the previous week ended December 24, the reserves dipped by USD 587 million to USD 635.08 billion. It touched a life-time high of USD 642.453 billion in the week ended September 3, 2021.

During the reporting week ended December 31, the decline in foreign exchange reserves was on account of a fall in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly data released on Friday showed.

FCA declined by USD 1.48 billion to USD 569.889 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed.

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.

Gold reserves rose by USD 14 million to USD 39.405 billion in the reporting week, the data showed. The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remained unchanged at USD 19.114 billion in the reporting week, the RBI said.

The country’s reserve position with the IMF was also unchanged at USD 5.207 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.