India's forex reserves fall to $274.8 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves declined by $685.1 million to $274.81 billion in the week ended August 30 due to a dip in the foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank said.

During the year-on-year period, the reserves fell by a whopping $17.239 billion, the RBI data showed, as the months beginning from June saw heavy intervention by the apex bank in the forex market to prop the rupee, which shed 28 per cent before the reporting week since the beginning of FY'14.

The rupee appreciated by over 4 per cent against the dollar since the new RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan assumed office on September 4.

Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the reserves, dropped by a $ 656.5 million to $246.745 billion for the week ended August 30, the Reserve Bank said. FCAs, expressed in US dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies, such as the euro, pound and yen, held in the reserves.

However, during the week, the gold reserves remained unchanged at $21.724 billion, the central bank said, adding the special drawing rights (SDRs) declined $19.6 million to $4.355 billion.

India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund fell by $9 million to $1.981 billion in the week under review, the data showed.