MUMBAI (Reuters) – India’s foreign exchange reserves fell to $562.81 billion in the week through Dec. 23, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statistical supplement showed on Friday.
For the week ended Dec. 16, the country’s reserves were at $563.50 billion. Overall, they have declined from $632.7 billion at the beginning of this year.
The central bank, which has on several occasions this year intervened in the spot and forwards market to protect the rupee, has said changes in reserves also stem from valuation gains or losses.
The rupee has been calmer over the past couple of weeks, trading on the weaker side of 82.50 in a narrow range for the week ended Dec. 23. Traders have said state-run banks were likely offering dollars on behalf of the RBI to keep the rupee from breaching 83 per dollar.
For the current week, rupee traded in an even tighter range in thin volumes and ended at 82.72 on Friday.
(Reporting by Anushka Trivedi; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
