Forex reserves declined by USD 153 million to touch USD 291,819 million as on Sep. 26, 2008, mainly due to decrease in foreign currency and assets collections on a weekly basis.

As per the weekly statistical supplement of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released on Oct. 3, 2008, foreign currency assets decreased by USD 159 million to USD 282,652 million.

During the same period, the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased USD 6 million to USD 471 million, while gold reserves remained steady as on the previous week at USD 8,692 million.

Foreign currency assets expressed in USD include the effect of appreciation or depreciation on non-US currencies (such as Euro, Sterling and Yen) held in reserves.