SEOUL (XINHUA) – South Korea’s foreign reserves kept rising for the second consecutive month in December due to higher conversion value of non-US dollar assets, central bank data showed yesterday.
Foreign currency reserves stood at USD423.16 billion at the end of December, up USD7.06 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The weak dollar increased the conversion value of non-dollar assets. The dollar index, which gauges the dollar value versus six major peers, declined 2.8 per cent last month.
The country’s foreign reserves were composed of USD369.69 billion of securities, USD29.35 billion of deposits, USD14.84 billion of special drawing rights, USD4.79 billion of gold bullion and USD4.49 billion of the International Monetary Fund position. South Korea was the world’s ninth-largest holder of foreign reserves at the end of November, unchanged from the previous month.
