[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] South Korea's foreign exchange reserves increased for the second consecutive month as foreign currency asset management income rose and the US dollar weakened.
According to the Bank of Korea's 'Foreign Exchange Reserves at the End of May 2020' released on the 3rd, the foreign exchange reserves at the end of last month stood at $407.31 billion, up $3.33 billion from the previous month. The foreign exchange reserves had been declining since February due to the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the strengthening of the US dollar, but rebounded in April and continued to increase for two months.
The Bank of Korea explained that this was due to increased income from foreign currency asset management and the weakening of the US dollar, which led to an increase in the dollar value of foreign currency assets denominated in other currencies. The US dollar index, composed of a basket of six major currencies, was 98.38 last month, down 1.5%.
Among the foreign exchange reserves, securities accounted for the largest portion at $365.71 billion (89.8%), followed by deposits at $30.01 billion (7.4%). Gold was $4.79 billion (1.2%), IMF position $3.99 billion (1.0%), and SDR $2.8 billion (0.7%), among others.
South Korea maintained its 9th place ranking in the world for foreign exchange reserves. China ranked first with $3.0915 trillion, and Japan was second with $1.3686 trillion.
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