India's forex reserves down by $778 million to $578.568 billion

The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $778 million to $578.568 billion in the week to December 11, RBI data showed on December 18. In the previous week, the reserves had touched a lifetime high of $579.346 billion after increasing by $4.525 billion.

In the reporting week, the reserves declined due to a fall in foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves. FCAs dropped by $1.042 billion to $536.344 billion, as per the weekly data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

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 forex reserves. The gold reserves increased by $284 million in the reporting week to $36.012 billion, the data showed.