Forex reserves rise to USD 343 billion

After falling last week, the country's foreign exchange reserves surged by a healthy USD 2.788 billion to USD 343.2 billion in the week to April 17 as foreign currency assets (FCAs) rose, the Reserve Bank said.
In the previous reporting week, the forex reserves declined by USD 2.592 billion to USD 340.412 billion.
FCAs, a major part of the overall reserves, increased by USD 2.727 billion to USD 318.859 billion during the week under review, the RBI data showed.
Foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation and depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and the yen, held in the reserves.

The country's gold reserves remained stable at USD 19.038 billion for the reporting week.
The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund was up USD 45.6 million to USD 4.005 billion, while the country's reserve position with the IMF rose USD 14.8 million to USD 1.298 billion, the data showed.