India's forex reserves rise marginally to $273.36 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves inched up marginally to $ 273.364 billion during the week ended May 21 from $273.300 billion in the previous week.

Of the total $273.364 foreign exchange reserves, 248.637 billion consisted of foreign currency, $18.537 billion in gold equivalents, $4.877 in Special Drawing Rights with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and $1.313 billion in reserve position with the IMF, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a release.

This excludes $250 million (Rs1,174 crore) invested in foreign currency denominated bonds issued by IIFC (UK). Foreign currency assets expressed in US dollar terms include the effect of appreciation/depreciation of non-US currencies (such as euro, sterling, yen) held in reserves, RBI said.

The country's forex reserves had gone down nearly $6 billion in the previous two weeks, due mainly to possible dollar sales by the RBI and a slide in the values of major global currencies.

During the week, gold reserves remained static at $18.537 billion, while the country's special drawing rights slightly improved to $4.877 billion, the RBI said.

India's reserves position in the International Monetary Fund also went up to $1.313 billion from $1.308 billion a week ago, the RBI said.