South Korea’s Foreign Exchange Reserves Decrease in May

The Bank of Korea announced on June 5 that South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves totaled US$401.97 billion as of the end of last month, showing a month-on-month decrease of US$2.06 billion.

Its foreign exchange reserves fell in April and last month, with the U.S. dollar appreciating, after having decreased in February and rebounded in March. “Last month, the value of foreign currency-denominated assets converted to the U.S. dollar decreased as the U.S. dollar appreciated,” the central bank explained.

The U.S. dollar Index, which shows the value of the U.S. dollar in comparison to six major currencies, rose 0.3 percent to 98.14. This means the U.S. dollar appreciated in relation to the other major currencies.

Deposits in foreign central banks and major global banks fell US$3.67 billion to US$15.71 billion. The SDR edged down by US$10 million to US$3.18 billion and the IMF position also edged down by US$10 million to US$2.5 billion. The gold reserves remained at US$4.79 billion.
 

As of the end of April, South Korea ranked ninth in the world in terms of the size of foreign exchange reserves. China (US$3.095 trillion) topped the list, followed by Japan (US$1.2935 trillion) and Switzerland (US$806.8 billion).