India's forex reserves fall by USD 8.578 billion to USD 726 billion

 India's forex kitty dropped by USD 8.578 billion to USD 726.027 billion during the week ended October 9, the RBI said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the reserves had dropped by USD 12.952 billion to USD 734.606 billion.

The reserves had touched an all-time high of USD 785.706 billion for the week ended September 4, driven by a heavy flow of currency as part of a special concessional swap for deposits from the diaspora, through which banks raised a record sum of nearly USD 133 billion, but have been on a declining trend ever since.

For the week ended October 9, foreign currency assets, a major component of reserves, decreased by USD 7.142 billion to USD 597.605 billion, according to the data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units, such as the euro, pound, and yen, held in foreign exchange reserves.

The value of gold reserves decreased by USD 1.319 billion to USD 105.094 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were down by USD 109 million to USD 18.548 billion, the apex bank said.

India's reserve position with the IMF decreased by USD 10 million to USD 4.78 billion, the RBI said.