Mumbai, Aug 24 (IANS): India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves increased by $205.8 million to $278.80 billion for the week ended Aug 16, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The reserves had increased by $1.43 billion to $278.60 billion for the week ended Aug 9.

The foreign currency assets (FCA) - the biggest component of the forex reserves - grew by $211.7 million at $251.56 billion, the weekly statistical supplement of the central bank showed.

The FCA had grown by $1.45 billion at $251.34 billion in the previous week.

The central bank said FCA in US dollar terms included the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies held in reserve, such as the pound sterling, euro and yen.

Gold reserves remained stagnant at $20.74 billion. The reserves of the precious metal remained stagnant after plunging $1.28 billion in the week ended July 5.

However, the special drawing rights (SDRs) declined by $3.9 million to $4.39 billion during the week ended Aug 16, 2013, while reserves with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) went down by $2.0 million to $2.10 billion.

The SDRs had increased by $45.4 million to $4.39 billion during the previous week, while reserves with the IMF were down by $64.7 million to $2.10 billion.