India's forex reserves rise to $582 billion

Mumbai: The country's foreign exchange (forex) kitty rose $233 million to $582.271 billion in the week to March 19, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.

The overall reserves had risen $1.74 billion to $582.04 billion in the previous reporting week.

The increase in the overall reserves during the reporting week was largely on account of a swelling of the foreign currency assets, which rose $157 million to $541.18 billion.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Value of the gold reserves increased for the second consecutive week, and was up USD 80 million to USD 34.63 billion in the reporting week, the RBI data showed.

The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell by $2 million to $1.5 billion in the reporting week.

The country's reserve position with the IMF also declined by $1 million to $4.96 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.