Seven-Month High
Korea’s foreign reserves at the end of April were US$ 376.57 billion, up US$ 1.27 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK) on May 4.
This figure was the second largest since last September when it hit a record high of US$ 377.7 billion. This is because the impact of US dollar depreciation drove up the amount of foreign currency asset management revenues, and other currency denominated foreign currency assets such as the euro and the Japanese yen increased in US dollar terms.
Korea’s foreign exchange reserves turned around in February after a slight increase in January, but expanded for two consecutive months in March and April.
By asset type, securities such as government bonds, corporate bonds and asset-backed securities (ABSs) were US$339.32 billion, down by US$ 1.05 billion from March.
Korea’s IMF position, which means a right to withdraw convertible currencies from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was US$1.74 billion, down by US$10 million from the previous month.
On the other hand, deposits spiked by US$2.31 billion to US$27.77 billion. The IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR) swelled by US$ 20 million to US$ 2.95 billion. Gold reserves amounted to US$4.79 billion the same as the previous month.
As of the end of March, Korea's foreign exchange reserves sat at 8th place worldwide after China, Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Russia and Hong Kong.