Forex Reserves Continues To Swell, Scales Past $451-Billion Mark

Foreign exchange reserves gained $2.484 billion to touch a new high of $451.08 billion in the week to Nov. 29, according to the weekly data released by the Reserve Bank of India on Friday.

In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $347 million to $448.6 billion.

Announcing the fifth bi-monthly monetary policy on Thursday, governor Shaktikanta Das had said the reserves touched $451.7 billion as of Dec. 3, an increase of $38.8 billion since April.

In the reporting week, the rise in reserves was mainly on account of an increase in foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, which rose by $2.642 million to $419.367 billion, according to the data.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-U.S. units like the euro, pound and the yen held in forex reserves.

However, during the reporting week, gold reserves declined by $148 million to $26.648 billion.

The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund also slipped by $4 million to $1.436 billion during the week.

The country's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund also came down by $6 million to $3.629 billion, the data showed.