India's forex reserves reaches record peak of $517.64 billion

Mumbai: The country’s foreign exchange reserves surged by $1.275 billion to touch a fresh lifetime high of $517.637 billion in the week to July 17, RBI data showed.

In the previous week, reserves had swelled by $3.108 billion to $516.362 billion.

The reserves had crossed the half-a-trillion mark for the first time in the week ended June 5, after it had increased by $8.223 billion to reach $501.703 billion.

In the week ended July 17, the reserves rose due to an increase in foreign currency assets (FCA), which is a major component of the overall reserves.

FCA was up by $1.245 billion to $476.880 billion in the reporting week, the central bank data 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 yen held in the reserves.

Gold reserves were up by $13 million to $34.743 billion, as per the data.

The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose $2 million to $1.455 billion.

The country’s reserve position with the IMF also increased by $15 million to $4.560 billion during the reporting week.