Forex reserves jump by $1.64bn to $296.63bn

The foreign exchange reserves rose by a robust USD 1.637 billion to touch USD 296.63 billion during the week ended December 14 on the back of healthy addition of core currency assets, the Reserve Bank said today.

The total reserves stood at USD 294.99 billion in the previous reporting week. Foreign currency assets, a major component of the forex reserves, were up by USD 1.614 billion to USD 262.119 billion for the week ended December 14, according to the Reserve Bank's weekly statistical supplement.

Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar terms include the effect of appreciation or 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 USD 27.803 billion during the week, RBI said. For the week under review, the special drawing rights (SDRs) were up by USD 15.4 million to USD 4.43 billion, while the country's reserve position with the IMF was also up by USD 7.8 million to USD 2.27 billion, according to the RBI data.