The country's forex reserves increased by $ 39.6 million to $ 296.578 billion on the back of rise in currency assets during the week ended December 28, the Reserve Bank said on Friday. The total reserves had slipped by $ 92.8 million to $ 296.539 billion in the previous reporting week. Foreign currency assets, a major component of the forex reserves, were up by $ 63.9 million to $ 262.01 billion for the week ended 28 December, the RBI said in its weekly statistical supplement. Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar terms include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of the non-US currencies, such as the euro, pound and yen, held in the reserves, the apex bank said. The gold reserves remained unchanged at $ 27.80 billion during the week, it said. For the week under review, the special drawing rights (SDRs) were down by $ 15.9 million to $ 4.436 billion, while the country's reserve position with the IMF slipped by $ 8.4 million to $ 2.325 billion, the apex bank data showed.