India's foreign exchange reserves surge by USD 1.876 bln in week to April 5

The country's foreign exchange reserves rose by USD 1.876 billion to USD 413.781 billion in the week to April 5, aided by a rise in foreign currency assets, Reserve Bank data showed Friday. In the previous week, the reserves had surged by USD 5.237 billion to USD 411.905 billion, helped by the maiden dollar-rupee swap conducted by the RBI. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets -- a major component of the overall reserves -- rose by USD 2.062 billion to USD 386.116 billion. Expressed in dollar terms, foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation/ depreciation of non-US currencies like the euro, pound and the yen held in the reserves.

The forex kitty had touched a life-time high of USD 426.028 billion in the week to April 13, 2018. Since then, it has been on a slide and is now down by over USD 13 billion. Gold reserves, which remained unchanged in the previous week, declined by USD 182.6 million to USD 23.225 billion, the data showed. The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund dipped by USD 1.2 million to USD 1.455 billion. The country's reserve position with the Fund too slipped by USD 2.5 million to USD 2.983 billion, the apex bank said.

(With inputs from agencies.)