India's forex reserves fall to $279.20 bn

The country's foreign exchange reserves dipped by $0.985 billion to $279.20 billion, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

The total reserves had risen by $21 million to $280.19 billion in the previous reporting week.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the forex reserves, were down by $999 million to $251.14 billion for the week ended July 19, RBI said.

Foreign currency assets 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, the apex bank said.

During the week, the gold reserves were unchanged at $21.55 billion, RBI said.

For the week under review, the special drawing rights (SDRs) were up by $9.5 million to $4.343 billion, while the country's reserve position with the IMF was also up by $ 4.8 million to $2.167 billion, the RBI data showed.