<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">India’s forex reserves fell to $572.7 billion as of 15 July, the lowest in over 20 months, as the Reserve Bank of India stepped in to protect the rupee.&nbsp;</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The reserves fell by $7.5 billion from the week ended 8 July, according to data released by RBI. The reserves fell by $15.5 billion in the first two weeks of July.</div><div><br></div><div>On Friday, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said that the central bank has zero tolerance for bumpy movements in the rupee and assured that India’s forex reserves are adequate.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>“In recognition of the fact that there is a genuine shortfall of supply of forex in the market relative to demand because of import and debt servicing requirements and portfolio outflows, the RBI has been supplying dollars to the market to ensure that there is adequate forex liquidity," said Das.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The governor’s remarks came at a time the rupee has been touching new record lows against the dollar in the last few sessions. The value of the rupee has depreciated by around 7% since January.</div><div><br></div><div>The rupee has been under pressure because of concerns about the interest rate normalization path of the US Fed and the deteriorating growth environment, which have led to an exodus of foreign funds from the domestic markets to the safety of dollar assets, according to media reports.</div><div><br></div><div>Experts said the recent rupee weakness is caused by strong dollar demand from oil importers due to high crude oil prices.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div><div><br></div>