Japan's foreign exchange reserves increased 6.67 billion U.S. dollars in April to reach 915.62 billion dollars, a new record high for the third consecutive month, the Japanese Finance Ministry said Friday in its monthly report.

The ministry attributed the increase of the foreign reserves to interest income gains on Japanese 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.

As of April 31, Japan had 768.63 billion dollars in foreign securities, 125.65 billion dollars in foreign currency deposits, and 16.66 billion dollars in gold, the latest statistics in the report showed.

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