Forex reserves rise to $343 billion

After falling last week, the country's foreign exchange reserves surged by a healthy $2.788 billion to $343.2 billion in the week to April 17 as foreign currency assets (FCAs) rose, the Reserve Bank said.

In the previous reporting week, the forex reserves declined by $ 2.592 billion to $ 340.412 billion. FCAs, a major part of the overall reserves, increased by $2.727 billion to $ 318.859 billion during the week under review, the RBI data showed.

Foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation and depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and the yen, held in the reserves.

The country's gold reserves remained stable at $ 19.038 billion for the reporting week.

The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund was up $ 45.6 million to $ 4.005 billion, while the country's reserve position with the IMF rose $ 14.8 million to $ 1.298 billion, the data showed.