Forex kitty jumps $3.8 bn to reclaim $700-bn mark

India's forex reserves jumped $3.825 billion to $700.946 billion during the week ended April 10, says RBI.

In the previous reporting week ended April 3, the overall reserves had jumped $9.063 billion to $697.121 billion.

The kitty had expanded to an all-time high of $728.494 billion during the week ended February 27 this year, before the onset of the Middle East conflict which led to several weeks of a drop as the rupee came under pressure and the RBI had to intervene in the forex market through dollar sales.

For the week ended April 10, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, increased by $3.127 billion to $ 555.983 billion, the central bank's data showed.

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

Value of gold reserves increased by $601 million to $121.343 billion during the week, the RBI said.

The Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) were up $56 million to $18.763 billion, the apex bank said.

India's reserve position with the IMF was up $41 million to $4.857 billion at the end of the reporting week, according to the apex bank's data.