Foreign exchange reserves in the week-ended July 3 dipped by $704 million to $354.51 billion, according to RBI data.
This is the second consecutive weekly dip in the reserves after the number touched a life-time high of $355.46 billion in the week ended June 19. In the week-ended June 26, the reserves fell by $237.50 million to $355.22 billion.
According to the latest data, the foreign currency assets (FCA) which forms a key component of the reserves dipped by $410 million to $330.09 billion.
Gold reserves have also depleted by $265.90 million to $17.10 billion while the special drawing rights from the International Monetary Fund fell by $21.20 million to $4.04 billion. The country’s reserve position in the IMF stood at $1.3 billion, down $6.8 million from the previous week.
“The fall in reserves could be attributed to a devaluation in major non-dollar currencies like the euro, yen, British pound and Swiss franc over the last few weeks due to the Greek crisis and Chinese market crash. India’s foreign exchange reserves hold a good chunk of these non-dollar currencies,” a currency analyst said.