FX Reserves
Korea’s foreign exchange reserves reached an all-time high again, for the 11th consecutive month.
The Bank of Korea announced on June 5 that the foreign exchange reserves increased by US$5.07 billion from the previous month to US$360.91 billion as of the end of May. The record-breaking streak has continued since July, when the amount had totaled US$329.71 billion.
The increase recorded last month can be attributed to a rise in foreign asset yields. Specifically, marketable securities such as government bonds and corporate bonds, which account for 91.5 percent of the reserves, increased US$4.08 billion to US$330.11 billion.
Deposits, in the meantime, went up by US$1.08 billion to US$20.07 billion (5.6 percent of the total) and the IMF SDR declined US$20 million to US$3.49 billion (1.0 percent). Korea ranked seventh in the world in foreign exchange holdings at the end of April.