The country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 1.581 billion to stand at USD 611.149 billion for the week ended July 23, RBI data showed on Friday. The reserves had reached a lifetime high of USD 612.730 billion after rising by USD 835 million in the previous week ended July 16, 2021 In the reporting week, the drop in the reserves was mainly due to a fall in foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, as per weekly data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). FCAs declined by USD 1.12 billion to USD 567.628 billion. 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 USD 449 million to USD 36.884 billion in the reporting week. The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dipped by USD 3 million at USD 1.546 billion. The country’s reserve position with the IMF also declined by USD 9 million to USD 5.091 billion in the reporting week, as per the data.