As of the end of August this year, South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves were recorded at US$418.3 billion. This marks a decrease of US$3.5 billion compared to the previous month.
On Sept. 5, the Bank of Korea announced the size of foreign exchange reserves and attributed the decrease to primarily factors such as a decrease in the conversion U.S. dollar value of non-dollar foreign currency assets and measures to alleviate foreign exchange market volatility.
The U.S. dollar index showed a resurgence of a strong dollar trend during August, rising by approximately 1.5 percent. The measures to alleviate foreign exchange market volatility are attributed to temporary effects resulting from foreign exchange swaps with the National Pension Service.
As of the end of July this year, South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves rank at the 8th position globally. China holds the top position with US$3.2043 trillion in reserves.
South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves are primarily composed of securities, accounting for US$379.03 billion, or 90.6 percent; followed by deposits at US$14.84 billion, or 3.5 percent; SDR at US$15.05 billion, or 3.6 percent; gold at US$4.79 billion, or 1.1 percent; and IMF positions at US$4.59 billion, or 1.1 percent.
Particularly noteworthy is the “deposits” category, which decreased from US$20.96 billion at the end of July to US$14.84 billion at the end of August, representing a relative outflow of foreign exchange reserves over the course of one month, totaling -61.3 percent.