Forex reserves swell by $293 mn to $282.84 bn

After declining for two consecutive weeks, the country's foreign exchange reserves grew by $293 million to $282.84 billion in the week ended August 27 from $282.55 billion in the previous week.

Foreign currency assets, a major component of the country's foreign exchange reserves, grew by $279 million to $256.65 billion in the week ended August 27, as against $256.37 billion in the previous week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in weekly data released today.

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

The country's foreign exchange reserves had tanked by over $4.7 billion in the previous fortnight due to import payments and fluctuation in the value of many currencies.

For the week ended August 27, gold reserves remained unchanged at $19.278 billion, while the country's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) moved up marginally to $4.981 billion, up $10 million.

India's reserve position in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also went up marginally by $4 million to $1.935 billion, the RBI data said.