Korea’s Forex Reserves Increased for Two Months in a Row

Korea’s foreign exchange reserves increased for the second consecutive month. The Bank of Korea announced on Nov. 4 that the amount increased by US$1.49 billion from US$368.11 billion to US$369.6 billion between the end of September and the end of last month.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves showed an increase of US$180 million in the previous month, too. The central bank attributed it to an increase in foreign currency asset management income.

By asset type, the marketable securities including government and agency bonds, corporate bonds and asset-backed securities posted a growth of US$260 million from a month ago to US$334.6 billion while the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decreased by US$30 million to US$3.44 billion. In the meantime, the IMF position showed little change to US$1.43 billion and the deposit rose by US$1.26 billion to US$25.34 billion. The central bank’s gold reserves remained at US$4.79 billion.

As of the end of September, Korea ranked seventh in the world in terms of foreign exchange reserves. China had US$3.5141 trillion, followed by Japan (US$1.2489 trillion), Saudi Arabia (US$662.3 billion at the end of August), Switzerland (US$598.9 billion), Taiwan (US$426.3 billion) and Russia (US$371.3 billion).