India’s forex reserves dropped by $4.992 billion to $593.904 billion for the week ended September 8, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday.

Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

In the previous reporting week, the kitty had jumped $4.04 billion to $598.9 billion.

The country’s forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion in October 2021.

The reserves took a hit as the central bank deployed the reserves to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments since last year.

For the week ended September 8, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $4.26 billion to $526.43 billion, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Gold reserves were down by $554 million to $44.38 billion, the RBI said.

The special drawing rights were down by $134 million to $18.06 billion, the apex bank said.

The country’s reserve position with the IMF was also down by $39 million to $5.03 billion in the reporting week, the apex bank data showed.