Forex reserves touch a life-time high of $363.8 billion

Mumbai: Foreign exchange reserves hit a life-time high of USD 363.8 billion after it rose USD 592.1 million in the week ended June 17, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.

In the previous week, the reserves had declined USD 231 million to USD 363.2 billion.

It had touched a record of USD 363.5 billion in the week through June 3, 2016.

The surge in reserves was on account of jump in foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves. FCAs rose by USD 594.3 million to USD 339.6 billion in the reporting week, RBI data showed.

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

Gold reserves remained unchanged at USD 20.3 billion.

The country's special drawing rights with IMF dipped by USD 1 million to USD 1.5 billion and the reserve position decreased by USD 1.2 million to USD 2.4 billion, the central bank said.