India's forex reserves up by $3.16 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves grew by $3.16 billion to $319.99 billion for the week ended Dec 19, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed.

In the previous week (Dec 12) the reserves had increased by $2.17 billion to $316.83 billion.

According to the RBI's weekly statistical supplement, foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the forex reserves, gained $3.31 billion at $295.67 billion in the week under review.

The foreign currency assets had gained $2.40 billion at $292.36 billion in the previous week (Dec 12).

The RBI said the foreign currency assets, expressed in US dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the pound sterling, euro and yen held in reserve.

India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) fell by $117.6 million and stood at $1.14 billion. The value of special drawing rights (SDRs) was lower by $29.2 million at $4.19 billion.

Gold reserves for the week under review were static at $18.98 billion. The bullion had declined by $753.2 million in the week ended Dec 5.