FX RESERVES HIT RECORD $400B MARK

Mumbai: The country’s forex reserves surged by $2.604 billion to reach an all-time high of $400.726 billion in the week ended September 8 on account of rise in foreign currency assets, RBI data showed on Friday. In the previous week, the forex reserves had increased by $3.572 billion to $398.122 billion. The foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, increased by $2.568 billion to $376.209 billion for the reporting week, according to data by the RBI. Expressed in US dollar terms, FCAs include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US dollar currencies, such as euro, pound and yen held in the reserves. The gold reserves remained unchanged at $20.691 billion.The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased by $14.2 million to $1.520 billion, the apex bank said. The country’s reserve position with the IMF also increased by $21.4 million to $2.304 billion, it said. The forex reserves on the balance of payment basis rose by $11.4 billion in the April-June quarter of fiscal 2018, compared to $7 billion in the year-ago quarter, according to the data. On nominal terms, the foreign exchange reserves increased by $16.6 billion during the first quarter against increase of $3.3 billion during the same period last year. There was a decline in capital account balance by $14.3 billion against the fall of $0.4 billion year ago.