Foreign Exchange Reserves Increase by $4.21 Billion in November... Rise After Four Months

Due to the weakening of the dollar, South Korea's foreign exchange reserves increased by 4.21 billion dollars, marking an increase for the first time in four months.

The Bank of Korea announced on the 5th that as of the end of November, South Korea's foreign exchange reserves stood at 417.08 billion dollars, up 4.21 billion dollars from the end of the previous month.

The foreign exchange reserves had decreased for three consecutive months in August, September, and October, with October recording the lowest level in 40 months due to measures to ease volatility in the foreign exchange market.

The Bank of Korea explained, "Last month, the US dollar index fell by about 3.2%," adding, "The increase in the dollar-converted value of foreign currency assets in other currencies and the rise in operational income led to the increase in foreign exchange reserves."

Breaking down the foreign exchange reserves by asset type, securities such as government and corporate bonds (372.07 billion dollars) increased by 2.08 billion dollars, while deposits, which correspond to cash (20.6 billion dollars), rose by 1.72 billion dollars.

Special Drawing Rights (SDR) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), amounting to 15.1 billion dollars, increased by 330 million dollars, and the 'IMF position,' which is the right to draw exchangeable currency from the IMF (4.52 billion dollars), rose by 70 million dollars.

Gold maintained the same level as the previous month at 4.79 billion dollars because it is recorded at the purchase price without reflecting market prices.

As of the end of October, South Korea's foreign exchange reserves ranked 9th in the world, unchanged from the previous month. China had the largest reserves at 3.1012 trillion dollars, followed by Japan (1.238 trillion dollars), Switzerland (805.8 billion dollars), India (588.5 billion dollars), Russia (576.1 billion dollars), Taiwan (561.1 billion dollars), Saudi Arabia (425.8 billion dollars), and Hong Kong (416 billion dollars).

[Image source=Yonhap News]