Foreign reserves for week ended 19 Dec at $320 bn, up $3.16 bn

Mumbai: India’s foreign exchange reserves in the week to 19 December surged by a whopping $3.16 billion to $319.99 billion on the back of a massive jump in foreign currency assets. Last week, reserves had increased by $2.17 billion to $316.83 billion, RBI data showed here today. In the week to 25 July, 2014, the reserves had touched $320.56 billion, an inch away from the life-time high of $320.79 billion on 2 September 2, 2011. The foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major constituent of overall reserves, jumped by $3.31 billion to $295.67 billion in the week ended 19 December. FCAs, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation and depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen, held in reserves. The country’s gold reserves remained unchanged at $18.985 billion in the reporting week. Special Drawing Rights decreased by $29.2 million to $4.20 billion, while the country’s reserve position with the IMF dipped by $117.6 million to $1.14 billion during the week, as per RBI data. PTI