India's forex reserves rise to life-time high of USD 424.361 billion

Mumbai: The country's foreign exchange reserves hit a life-time high of USD 424.361 billion after rising by USD 1.828 billion in the week to March 30, helped by rise in foreign currency assets, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

In the previous week, the reserves had increased by USD 1.197 billion to USD 422.532 billion.

Previously, the reserves had touched a record high of USD 421.914 billion on February 9. It had crossed the USD 400-billion mark for the first time in the week to September 8, 2017, but has since been fluctuating.

In the reporting week, the foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, rose by USD 1.823 billion to USD 399.118 billion.

Expressed in the 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 21.614 billion, the central bank said. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund rose by USD 2.1 million to USD 1.544 billion.

The country's reserve position with the IMF also increased by USD 2.8 million to USD 2.083 billion, the apex bank said.