India's gold reserves were also up by $297.7 million to $19.33 billion
The forex reserves continued to scale new highs, expanding by a whopping $7.26 billion to hit a new all-time high of $351.87 billion for the week ended May 1, the Reserve Bank said on Friday.
This highest-ever accretion in recent years happened amidst the continued rise of the US dollar against all major currencies including the rupee, which plunged to a 20-month low of 64.23 against the dollar yesterday. However, the unit recovered to 63.94 on Friday.
This gain also comes amidst a massive rout in the stock and bond markets, where foreign funds were net sellers since mid-April having been spooked by the MAT controversy. Since May alone FIIs dumped stocks worth more than Rs 6,500 crore (Rs 65 billion) and a similar quantum of bonds.
The forex reserves had shot up by $1.405 billion to touch record $344.605 billion in the previous reporting week.
The foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, was the primary factor which helped the overall kitty this reporting week.
The currency assets were up $6.89 billion to $327.15 billion for the week ended May 1, the RBI data showed on Friday.
Foreign currency assets, expressed in dollar terms, include the effect of appreciation and depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and the yen, held in the reserves.
After remaining stable for multiple weeks, the country's gold reserves were up by $297.7 million to $19.33 billion, the apex bank said.
The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund were up $57.6 million to $4.063 billion, while the country's reserve position with the Fund also increased by $18.7 million to $1.317 billion, the data showed.
