Foreign Exchange Authorities Sell $6 Billion in Q2 to Defend Exchange Rate

Net Foreign Exchange Transactions Negative for 8 Consecutive Quarters

Foreign exchange authorities sold approximately $6 billion worth of foreign currency in the second quarter (April to June) of this year to prevent the depreciation of the Korean won. This is about three times the amount sold in the first quarter ($2.1 billion).

According to the Bank of Korea's "2023 Second Quarter Foreign Exchange Authorities' Net Transactions" released on the 28th, the foreign exchange authorities net sold $5.973 billion in the foreign exchange market during the second quarter to stabilize the market.

The Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Economy and Finance have been disclosing the quarterly net difference between total dollar purchases and total sales by foreign exchange authorities since the third quarter of 2019.

The net foreign exchange transaction amount has recorded a negative balance for eight consecutive quarters since the third quarter of 2021.

Based on closing prices, the KRW-USD exchange rate rose by 15.8 won from 1,301.9 won on March 31 to 1,317.7 won on June 30.

On the 14th, an employee is organizing dollars at the Hana Bank Counterfeit Response Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@