MUMBAI: India’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $6.052 billion to $593.477 billion during the week ended May 19, RBI said on Friday.

The drop in the kitty has snapped two consecutive weeks of increases. In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had increased by $3.5 billion to take the overall quantum just shy of $600 billion.

In October 2021, the country’s forex kitty had reached an all-time high of $645 billion. The reserves have been declining as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressures caused majorly by global developments. For the week ended May 19, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, declined by $4.654 billion to $524.945 billion, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by the RBI on Friday.