Forex reserves drop $11.41 billion to $698.35 billion as gold holdings decline

India’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $11.413 billion to $698.346 billion in the week ended March 20, mainly due to a sharp fall in gold reserves, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, PTI reported.In the previous reporting week, the reserves had dropped by $7.052 billion to $709.759 billion.The country’s forex kitty had earlier surged to an all-time high of $728.494 billion in the week ended February 27, before the onset of the West Asia conflict.During the latest reporting week, foreign currency assets (FCA) -- the largest component of the reserves -- increased by $2.127 billion to $557.695 billion, the RBI data showed.Expressed in dollar terms, FCAs include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in the reserves.However, gold reserves saw a sharp decline, falling by $13.495 billion to $117.186 billion during the week, the central bank said.The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) dipped by $65 million to $18.632 billion, according to the RBI.India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose by $19 million to $4.833 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.