Mumbai: The country's foreign exchange reserves surged by USD 2.342 billion to touch a life-time high of USD 453.422 billion in the week to December 6, according to the RBI data.

In the previous week, the reserves had increased by USD 2.484 billion to USD 451.08 billion, the weekly data released by the Reserve Bank of India RBI on Friday showed.

In the reporting week, the rise in reserves was mainly on account of an increase in foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, which surged by USD 1.891 billion to USD 421.258 billion, according to the data.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and the yen held in forex reserves.

During the reporting week, gold reserves increased by USD 430 million to USD 27.078 billion.

The special drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund was by USD 5 million to USD 1.441 billion during the week.

The country's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund also increased by USD 15 million to USD 3.644 billion, the data showed.

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