Mumbai: India's foreign exchange market (FOREX) reserves dropped by USD 4.854 billion to USD 532.664 billion as on September 30, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

The reserves declined to their lowest level since July 2020. The reserves, which have been dipping as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments, had declined by over USD 8.134 billion to USD 537.518 billion in the previous reporting week.

In October 2021, the country's forex kitty had reached an all-time high of USD 645 billion. The drop in the reserves for the week ended September 30 was on account of a dip in the Foreign Currency Assets, a major component of the overall reserves, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the Reserve Bank of India on Friday.

The Foreign Currency Assets dropped by USD 4.406 billion to USD 472.807 billion during the reporting week, the apex bank said. Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves. The value of the gold reserves decreased by USD 281 million to USD 37.605 billion, the data showed.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das last week said the central bank's forex reserves umbrella has sustained to remain strong in spite of uncertainty in markets. He said the RBI has been overriding in the forex market based on continuous assessment of the prevailing and evolving state of affairs.

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