By Xu Aiying and Lee Jihae

The nation's foreign exchange reserves have set a record high for the fifth consecutive month. 

The Bank of Korea on Nov. 4 said in a report that its foreign currency reserves last month reached USD 426.51 billion, up from USD 420.55 billion in September.

The figure increased for the seventh straight month since April and set a record high every month from June.

Last month's increase of USD 5.96 billion was the highest since USD 6.5 billion in January 2018.

By asset type, securities such as government, sovereign and corporate bonds accounted for 90% of the reserves with USD 383.66 billion, up from USD 379.08 billion in September. Deposits accounted for USD 30.51 billion or 7.2%, topping the USD 29.15 billion shown in the previous month.

Gold holdings accounted for 1.1% with USD 4.79 billion, International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve positions 1.0% with USD 4.36 billion and the fund's special drawing rights 0.7% with USD 3.19 billion.

On the increase in its foreign currency holdings, the bank said, "This was due to the rise in the operating income of foreign currency-denominated assets and deposits at financial institutions, as well as higher conversion value of foreign currency-denominated assets when changed into U.S. dollars."

Korea in September ranked ninth globally in foreign reserves holdings with USD 420.5 billion.

xuaiy@korea.kr