India’s forex stocks jump $4.885 bn to $728.494 bn

Mumbai: India’s forex reserves jumped $4.885 billion to an all-time high of $728.494 billion during the week ended February 27, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped $2.119 billion to $723.608 billion. The previous all time high for the kitty was $725.727 billion during the week ended February 13 this year.

For the week ended February 27, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased $561 million to $573.125 billion, the data released by the central bank showed.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effects of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units, such as the euro, pound, and yen, held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Value of the gold reserves increased $4.141 billion to $131.630 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up $26 million to $18.87 billion, the apex bank said.

India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was also up $158 million to $4.87 billion in the reporting week, according to the apex bank’s data.