New Delhi, March 29 -- India's foreign exchange reserves rose USD 4.529 billion to USD 658.800 billion in the week that ended on March 21, extending gains for the third straight week, official data released by RBI showed.

In the week that ended on March 7, the foreign exchange kitty witnessed the highest weekly gains in over three years.

Before that, forex reserves had slumped for about four months, recently hitting an 11-month low. Then followed the latest rollercoaster movement, with gains some weeks and declines the next.

Forex reserves started falling after touching an all-time high of USD 704.89 billion in September. They are now about 6.5 percent lower from their peak.

The decline in reserves was most likely due to RBI intervent...