TOKYO, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Japan's foreign exchange reserves increased 9.67 billion dollars in February from the previous month to hit a record high of 905.05 billion dollars, the country's finance ministry said on Wednesday.

    It was the first time that Japan's foreign exchange reserves surpassed the 900 billion dollars line, according to the ministry.

    Officials of the ministry attributed the increase to interest income gains on the country's holdings of U.S. Treasuries and other foreign securities, as well as valuation gains on the U.S. bonds driven by lower U.S. interest rates, Kyodo News said, adding that Japan's euro-denominated assets were also inflated by the rise in the value of the euro against the U.S. dollar

    Japan's foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in foreign currencies, plus International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve positions, IMF special drawing rights and gold.