India''s forex reserves decline to USD 299.17 billion

Mumbai, Feb 4 (PTI) Country''s foreign exchange reservesdipped by USD 223 million to USD 299.17 billion driven by adrop in its foreign currency assets.

The total reserves stood at USD 299.40 billion the weekbefore.

Foreign currency assets, the biggest component of thetotal foreign reserves, came down by USD 269 million to USD269.28 billion for the week ended January 28, the Reserve Bankof India said in its weekly data released today.

Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar termsinclude the effect of appreciation or depreciation of thenon-US currencies, such as the euro, pound and yen, held inthe reserves, the apex bank said.

The country''s gold reserves remained unchanged at USD22.47 billion, while both special drawing rights (SDRs) andreserve position in the IMF improved marginally.

The SDRs were up USD 32 million to USD 5.19 billion,while India''s reserve position in the IMF increased by USD 14million to USD 2.262 billion, the RBI data showed.