Forex kitty continues to move up, closes in $449 billion mark

Highlights

• The gain in reserves was mainly on account of an increase in foreign currency assets which rose by $254 million to $416.725 billion in the reporting week
• During the reporting week, gold reserves increased marginally by $87 million to $26.796 billion

MUMBAI: Foreign exchange reserves continued the upward move, gaining by a modest $347 million to touch a new high of $448.6 billion in the week to November 22, according to the weekly data released by the Reserve Bank on Friday.

In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $441 million to reach $448.249 billion.

The gain in reserves was mainly on account of an increase in foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, which rose by $254 million to $416.725 billion in the reporting week, the 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 the yen held in forex reserves.

During the reporting week, gold reserves increased marginally by $87 million to $26.796 billion.

The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were up by $5 million to $1.44 billion during the week.

The country's reserve position with the Fund also increased by a modest $2 million to $3.635 billion, the data showed.