Forex reserves down to $273 billion

India’s foreign exchange reserves nosedived by a whopping $ 3 billion for the second consecutive week on likely intervention by the Reserve Bank in the market to support a falling rupee and also due to the depreciation of major global currencies.

The reserves declined by $ 2.938 billion to $ 273.300 billion for the week ended May 14, compared to $ 276.238 billion in the previous week, RBI data showed.

“There was a major intervention by the RBI in the market today. That apart, the depreciation of major currencies in the basket has also contributed to the fall in reserves,” a senior dealer with a State-owned bank said.

The partially convertible rupee came off the day’s low of Rs 47.33 per dollar and ended at Rs 46.96 against the U.S. dollar at the close of trade today as against Thursday’s close of Rs 47.13 per dollar.

For the week ended May 7, forex reserves had dropped by a significant $ 3.4 billion to $ 276.238 billion against $ 279.633 billion in the previous week.

Foreign currency assets, which are the major component of the country’s forex, dropped by $ 2.876 billion to $ 248.597 billion during the week, compared to $ 251.473 billion in the previous week, the RBI said.