South Korea's Foreign Exchange Reserves at $447.6 Billion... Slight Increase Amid Dollar Weakness

Bank of Korea Announces 'Foreign Exchange Reserves as of End-February' on 4th
Weakening US Dollar Trend...Increase in Dollar-Converted Value of Foreign Currency Assets Denominated in Other Currencies

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] South Korea's foreign exchange reserves have slightly increased. This is due to the continued weak dollar trend, which raised the dollar-converted value of foreign currency assets denominated in other currencies.

The Bank of Korea announced on the 4th that as of the end of February, foreign exchange reserves stood at $447.56 billion, an increase of $4.83 billion compared to the previous month.

A Bank of Korea official stated, "Foreign exchange reserves increased due to higher returns on foreign currency asset management and the rise in the dollar-converted value of foreign currency assets denominated in other currencies." He added, "The US dollar index fell by 0.4% in February."

Breaking down the reserves by asset type, securities such as government and corporate bonds increased by $9.15 billion over the month to $409.63 billion. Deposits held at banks rose by $550 million to $24.74 billion compared to the previous month.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR) increased by $80 million to $3.59 billion, and the 'IMF position,' which is the right to draw exchangeable currency from the IMF, rose by $110 million to $4.81 billion.

As of the end of January, South Korea's foreign exchange reserves ranked 9th in the world at $447.56 billion.

China holds the top position with $3.2107 trillion, followed by Japan ($1.3921 trillion), Switzerland ($1.0788 trillion), and Russia ($590.7 billion).