Forex kitty swells to all-time high of $340 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves shot up to an all-time high of $339.99 billion, after a $4.26-billion increase over the week ended March 20, driven by a rise in core currency assets, as per RBI data.

Total reserves had dropped by $2.06 billion to $335.73 billion in the previous week, after touching an all-time high at $338.079 billion a week earlier.

The foreign currency assets, the biggest component of the reserves, grew $4.54 billion to $314.88 billion for the week, as per the data.

Foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation and depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen, held in the reserves.

However, the massive decline in the country's reserve position with the IMF, which was down $295.8 million to $1.289 billion.

The country's gold reserves remained unchanged at $19.837 billion for the reporting week.

The special drawing rights increased by $18.2 million to $3.978 billion for the reporting week.