India''s forex reserves inch towards USD 300-billion mark

Mumbai, Feb 12 (PTI) India''s foreign exchange reserveswent up by USD 243 million to USD 299.415 billion in the weekended February 4, driven by an increase in its foreigncurrency assets (FCAs).

The total reserves had stood at USD 299.17 billion inthe week before.

FCAs, the biggest component of the total foreignreserves, were up by an impressive USD 793 million to USD270.08 billion for the week, the Reserve Bank said in itsweekly data released last evening.

FCAs, expressed in US dollar terms, include the effectof appreciation or depreciation of the non-US currencies, suchas the euro, pound and yen, held in the reserves.

However, after remaining static for many weeks, thecountry''s gold reserves dropped by a staggering USD 546million to 21.92 billion, the apex bank data said.

Both the special drawing rights (SDRs) and reserveposition in the IMF declined marginally.

The SDRs were down USD 3 million to USD 5.15 billionwhile India''s reserve position in the IMF declined USD 1million to USD 2.261 billion, the RBI data showed.