Forex reserves at record high of $457 bn on gain in foreign currency assets

Mumbai: The country’s foreign exchange reserves swelled by $2.520 billion to touch a record high of $457.468 billion in the week to December 27, according to RBI data.

In the previous week, the reserves rose to $454.948 billion after increasing by $456 million.

In the reporting week, the increase in reserves was mainly on account of a gain in foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, which surged by $2.203 billion to $424.936 billion, the data released by the Reserve Bank on Friday showed.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and the yen held in the forex reserves.

During the week, gold reserves increased by $260 million to $27.392 billion.

The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund dipped by $2 million to $1.441 billion.

The country’s reserve position with the Fund, however, increased by $58 million to $3.7 billion, the data showed.