Forex reserves near $300-bn mark; jump $1.35 bn

Mumbai: Foreign exchange reserves continued their rally for the fourth consecutive week, swelling by USD 1.35 billion to USD 298.64 billion on a surge in currency assets even though the reserve position with the IMF slid heavily, the Reserve Bank said on Saturday.

The total foreign exchange reserves had increased by USD 1.838 billion to USD 297.28 billion in the previous reporting week.

Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major part of the overall reserves, rose USD 1.58 billion to USD 271.40 billion for the week ended March 21, the RBI said.

Foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of the non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in its reserves.

The gold reserves remained unchanged at USD 20.978 billion as per the data.

The special drawing rights were down by USD 16.9 million to USD 4.462 billion, while the country's reserve position with the IMF was down by a whopping USD 214.7 million to USD 1.801 billion, the apex bank said.