RBI’s fight to prop the tottering rupee has contributed substantially to forex reserves dipping by a hefty $16.554 billion or 6 per cent to a low of $275.49 billion since the beginning of this fiscal.
According to marketmen, a large part of this has been used to save the bleeding rupee, which went on a downward spiral after May 22 when Ben Bernanke of the US Fed had hinted at turning his easy money policy much earlier than previously hinted.
According to the latest Reserve Bank data, forex reserves plunged to $275.49 billion to the week ended August 30, which is a near 6 per cent fall from $292.646 billion as of March 29.
The rupee opened the fiscal at 54.25 to the US dollar but fell to a life—time low of 68.86 on August 28, losing nearly a third of its value. However, since the new RBI Governor Raghuram Govind Rajan took over the affairs of the Mint Street on September 4, the rupee has been on a winning streak, and closed the last trade on Friday at 65.24 to the dollar.
On a weekly basis, the reserves dropped by $2.2 billion as of August 30, marking a three—year low, the RBI data showed.
Overall, the foreign currency assets have fallen more to the tune of $3.08 billion to $247.40 billion in the week ended August 30.
The Reserve Bank was net seller of the dollar twice this year in May and June, according to its monthly data.
In June this year, RBI sold $2.252 billion net of the US currency, while in May it sold $107 million.