MUMBAI: India's forex reserves increased by USD 4.23 billion to USD 597.509 billion for the week ended May 20 on the back of a high accretion of core currency assets, according to RBI data. The country's foreign exchange reserves had declined by USD 2.676 billion to USD 593.279 billion in the previous reporting week ended May 13.
During the reporting week, the rise in the reserves was mainly on account of a drop in Foreign Currency Assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, and gold reserves, as per weekly data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.
FCAs increased by USD 3.825 billion to USD 533.378 billion in the week. Expressed in dollar terms, the FCAs include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
Gold reserves increased by USD 253 million to USD 40.823 billion. RBI said that the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) climbed USD 102 million to USD 18.306 billion.
The country's reserve position with the IMF increased by USD 51 million to USD 5.002 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.