Forex reserves drop by $3.4 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves fell by a significant $3.4 billion to $276.238 billion for the week ended May 7, as against $279.633 billion in the previous week, RBI data showed.

The reserves had gone up by a modest $157 million to $279.633 billion for the week ended April 30, as compared to $279.476 billion in the previous week.

The decline in forex reserves was apparently due to a sharp fall in foreign currency assets, which fell by $3.3 billion during the week to $251.473 billion, RBI data showed.

Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar terms include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies, such as euro, sterling and yen, held in the reserves, the RBI said.

During the week, gold reserves remained static at $18.537 billion while the country's special drawing rights fell to $4.907 billion, from $4.982 billion in the previous week.

India's reserve position in the international monetary fund fell further to $1.321 billion against $1.341 billion a week ago, the RBI said.