Forex reserves swell $1.63 bn to $295.79 bn

The country's foreign exchange reserves went up by $1.63-billion to $295.79-billion on the back of a healthy jump in foreign currency assets, making it the fourth consecutive weekly rise in the kitty.

India's total forex reserves went up by $2.56-billion to $294.16-billion the previous week.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the forex pie, shot up nearly $1.59-billion to $268.10-billion for the week ended October 8, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today said.

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 country's gold reserves were unchanged at $20.51-billion while there was a marginal, $29-million rise in India's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to $5.168- billion, the data showed.

India's reserve position in the International Monetary Fund was also marginally up by $12-million to a little over $2-billion, the apex bank data showed.