Forex reserves jump $2 billion to $277 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves rose by a robust $2.03 billion to $277.38 billion in the week ended September 20 on a healthy increase in the core currency assets.

The reserves had increased by $544.7 million to $275.35 billion in the previous reporting week.

"Foreign currency assets (FCAs), a major component of the reserves, shot up by $1.97 billion to $249.22 billion for the week under review," the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its weekly statement.

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

The gold reserves remained unchanged at $21.724 billion for the third week in a row, the central bank said. The gold reserves were also unchanged in the previous reporting week.

The special drawing rights (SDRs) increased $38.3 million to $4.42 billion, while India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund rose $17.4 million to $2.01 billion, the RBI data showed.