Foreign Exchange Reserves
It is noteworthy that Korea's foreign exchange reserves hit US$375.3 billion at the end of March. Analysis says that this was because profits from foreign currency asset management swelled and the weakening of the US dollar drove up the converted amount of the euro and the Japanese yen.
According to “Korea’s foreign exchange reserves” released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on April 5, Korea’s foreign exchange reserves hit US$375.3 billion at the end of last month, up US$1.39 billion from the end of the previous month (US$37.391 billion). It is the largest amount since the end of September of last year (US$377.8 billion), the largest foreign exchange reserves ever recorded.
Other currencies, such as the euro and the Japanese yen, raised their appreciation against the US dollar, impacting Korea’s foreign exchange reserves. Both euro and the Japanese yen were up 0.9 percent and the pound up 0.3 percent. On the other hand, the US dollar index which gauges the dollar against six major currencies fell 0.8 percent to 100.4 from 101.1 during the same period.
Also, a hike in the international interest rate ignited a rise in profits from foreign currency reserve management. Marketable securities such as government bonds, government agency bonds, corporate bonds and asset securitization securities totaled US$340.37 billion, up by US$1.87 billion last month.
Deposits in the foreign currency reserves were US$25.46 billion, up US$500 million from the previous month. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s special drawing right (SDR) and the IMF position for the IMF to frequently withdraw exchangeable currencies swelled 0.1% to US$2.93 billion and US$1.75 billion, respectively. The amount of gold was US$4.79 billion the same as last month.
As of the end of February, Korea's foreign exchange reserves ranked eighth in the world, unchanged from the previous month. China, the world's number one, recovered to the US$3 trillion level, up US$ 6.9 billion from the previous month to US$ 3.15 billion. Japan came in second with US$1.223 billion, up US$0.8 billion, and Switzerland placed third with US$709.5 billion which meant a year on year increase of US$11 billion. Fourth place was taken by Saudi Arabia with US$514.1 billion which meant a drop of US$9.8 billion from a year before while Taiwan standing fifth chalked up US$437.7 billion, up US$1.1 billion from a year earlier.