Foreign currency reserves last month reached USD 415.92 billion, up USD 2.41 billion from July. Shown is the Counterfeit Notes Response Center of Hana Bank in Seoul's Jung-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Kim Seon Ah

The nation's foreign currency reserves have risen for two consecutive months.

The Bank of Korea in a report released on Sept. 4 said the August figure reached USD 415.92 billion, up USD 2.41 billion from USD 413.51 billion in July.

The bank said, "Foreign currency deposits of financial institutions fell, but foreign exchange reserves rose thanks to the rise in the USD-denominated value of other currency holdings due to the weakening U.S. dollar and the impact of operating profit of foreign currency assets."

The greenback depreciated 3.1% in August based on the U.S. dollar index, thus the value of other USD-denominated currency holdings rose.

By asset type, securities were worth USD 369.44 billion, up USD 2.39 billion from July, and special drawing rights from International Monetary Fund USD 15.25 billion, up USD 300 million. Gold stayed the same at USD 4.79 billion but deposits fell to USD 22.05 billion, down USD 310 million.

As of July, the country's foreign currency reserves were ninth in the world at USD 413.5 billion. China topped the rankings with USD 3.25 trillion, followed by Japan with USD 1.21 trillion and Switzerland USD 897.6 billion.

sofiakim218@korea.kr