Forex reserves surge by USD 3 bn to USD 417.89 bn

The country's foreign exchange reserves rose sharply by USD 3 billion to touch a new life- time high of USD 417.789 billion in the week to January 26, aided by a rise in foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank said today.
In the previous week, the reserves had increased by USD 959.1 million to USD 414.784 billion.
The reserves had crossed the USD 400-billion mark for the first time in the week to September 8, 2017 but has since been fluctuating. But for the past four weeks, it has been on a continuous rally.
In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, rose by USD 2.975 billion to USD 393.743 billion, the RBI said.

Expressed in US dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies such as the euro, the pound and the yen held in the reserves.
Gold reserves remained unchanged at USD 20.421 billion, the central bank said.
The country's special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund rose by USD 12.7 million to USD 1.544 billion, while the country's reserve position with the Fund jumped by USD 17 million to USD 2.079 billion during the reporting week, the central bank said.