Forex Reserves Up $626 Million At $360 Billion: RBI

Mumbai: Foreign exchange reserves rose by $625.5 million to $360.296 billion in the week to December 30, helped by an increase in foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday.

In the previous week, the reserves had declined by $935.2 million to $359.671 billion.

The reserves had touched a life-time high of $371.99 billion in the week to September 30, 2016.

Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, increased by $612.4 million to $336.582 billion in the reporting week.

FCAs, expressed in US dollar terms, include the effects of appreciation/depreciation of non-US currencies, such as the euro, pound and the yen held in the reserves.

Gold reserves remained steady at $19.982 billion in the reporting week, the Reserve Bank of India said.

The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund rose by $4.9 million to $1.432 billion, while India's reserve position with the Fund, too, increased by $8.2 million to $2.299 billion, the RBI said.