A strong US dollar and subsequent interventions by the country`s central bank to stabilise the rupee drained over $5.14 billion from India`s foreign exchange (forex) reserves, analysts said on Friday.

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According to Anindya Banerjee, Deputy Vice President for Currency and Interest Rates with Kotak Securities, the decline in Forex reserves can be attributed to the RBI`s aggressive intervention in the spot market to stem the decline in rupee`s fall.

India`s forex reserves declined by $5.14 billion during the week ended October 12, when the rupee slipped to 74 and beyond against the US dollar. 

On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India`s weekly statistical supplement showed that overall forex reserves decreased to $394.46 billion from $399.60 billion reported for the week ended October 5.

India`s forex reserves comprise foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs) and the RBI`s position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The RBI is known to enter the markets via intermediaries to either sell or buy US dollars to keep the rupee in a stable orbit. 

Segment-wise, FCAs -- the largest component of the forex reserves -- plunged by $5.23 billion to $369.99 billion during the week under review.

Besides the US dollar, FCAs consist of nearly 20-30 per cent of major global currencies.

However, the RBI`s weekly statistical supplement showed that the value of the country`s gold reserves increased. It went up by $71.4 million to $20.52 billion.

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As per the data, the SDRs` value rose by $6.4 million to $1.47 billion, while the country`s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased by $10.7 million to $2.47 billion.