SEOUL: South Korea’s foreign reserves marked the first fall in three months last month owing to a lower conversion value of non-US dollar assets, central bank data showed Monday, reported Xinhua.
Foreign currency reserves came to US$420.98 billion at the end of May, down US$5.70 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It turned downward in three months as the strong dollar decreased the conversion value of non-dollar assets.
The dollar index, which gauges the dollar value versus six major peers, advanced 2.6 per cent last month.
The country’s foreign reserves were composed of US$378.96 billion of securities, US$17.82 billion of deposits, US$14.71 billion of special drawing rights, US$4.79 billion of gold bullion and US$4.69 billion of the IMF position.
South Korea was the world’s ninth-largest holder of foreign reserves at the end of April, unchanged from a month earlier.-Bernama
