Mumbai, Nov 20 (IANS): India's foreign exchange reserves fell by $326 million to $314.34 billion for the week ended Nov 11, declining sharply for the second straight week due to a slump in the value of foreign currency assets, official data showed.

The forex reserve kitty had slumped by $5.72 billion in the previous reporting week.

However, in rupee terms, the total value of India's foreign exchange reserves registered a gain of Rs.32,895 crore to Rs.15,76,706 crore during the week under review mainly because of depreciation of Indian currency against the US dollar.

Last week, rupee dropped to Rs.51.30 against a dollar, the lowest in 32 months, due to increased demand for the greenback from exporters, continued concern over inflationary pressure and a slump in stock markets.

Foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves kitty, dropped by $288 million to $280.29 billion for the week ended Nov 11, according to the weekly statistical supplement of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The RBI does not provide any reason for the change in the foreign currency assets. It says the assets expressed in US dollar terms include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the pound sterling, euro and yen held in reserve.

India's reserves with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell by $14 million to $2.62 billion and the value of special drawing rights (SDRs) declined by $24 million to $4.53 billion.

However, the value of gold reserves remained unchanged at $26.89 billion after dropping by $1.77 billion in the previous week.