Forex reserves swell $2.57 bn to $294.16 bn

The country's foreign exchange reserves went up for the third straight week, rising by $2.57-billion to $294.16-billion on the back of a healthy jump in the foreign currency assets.

The country's total forex reserves had went up by $3.87-billion to $291.56-billion in the previous week.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the forex kitty, shot up nearly $2-billion to $266.51-billion for the week ended October 1, data released today by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.

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 up by $508-million to $20.51-billion while there was a marginal $56-million rise in India's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to $5.139- billion, the data showed.

The country's reserve position in the International Monetary Fund was also marginally up by $21-million to $1.996-billion, the apex bank data showed.