South Korea’s foreign reserves rebound to $443.16bln in October
South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves increased in October, recovering from the previous month’s decline, as higher foreign currency deposits held by financial institutions and investment management gains boosted the country’s overall reserves, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Wednesday, Qazinform News Agency cites Yonhap.
The country’s foreign reserves reached US$443.16 billion at the end of October, marking an increase of $2.6 billion from the previous month, BOK data showed.
The rise followed a decline in September, which interrupted a three-month upward trend that began in June.
The central bank attributed October’s recovery primarily to an increase in foreign currency deposits held by financial institutions, along with profits generated through reserve management.
Meanwhile, foreign securities, including U.S. Treasury bonds, declined by $3.59 billion month-on-month to $382.43 billion at the end of October. They accounted for 86.3 percent of South Korea’s total foreign reserves.
In contrast, foreign currency deposits increased by $6.32 billion to $36.27 billion over the same period.
Special drawing rights (SDRs), an international reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund, decreased by $70 million to $15.41 billion.
Gold holdings remained unchanged at $4.79 billion.
Earlier, Qazinform reported South Korea and Kazakhstan eye deeper business ties.