The Bank of Korea on Dec. 3 said foreign exchange reserves on Nov. 28 reached USD 430.66 billion, USD 1.8 billion more than in October. (iClickArt) (Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution of this image is prohibited under copyright law.)

By Lee Jihae

The Bank of Korea on Dec. 3 said foreign exchange reserves late last month reached USD 430.66 billion, USD 1.8 billion more than in October.

The amount had fallen to USD 404.66 billion in May, its lowest level in nearly five years, but has since seen six consecutive months of growth. The November figure was also the highest since USD 436.43 billion in August 2002.

The central bank attributed the rise to growing operating income and higher foreign currency deposits at financial institutions.

By asset type, marketable securities like government and corporate bonds rose USD 1.39 billion from October to USD 379.35 billion, accounting for 88.1% of the foreign exchange amount.

Deposits grew USD 490 million to USD 26.43 billion, comprising 6.1% of the figure, followed by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) special drawing rights with USD 15.74 billion (3.7%), gold USD 4.79 billion (1.1%) and the IMF's reserve positions USD 4.35 billion (1%).

As of Oct. 31, Korea ranked ninth worldwide in foreign currency holdings with USD 428.8 billion. China topped the list with USD 3.34 trillion.

jihlee08@korea.kr