The Bank of Korea on March 5 said its foreign exchange reserves as of late last month reached USD 427.62 billion, up USD 1.72 billion from January. (Bank of Korea)
By Kim Hyelin
The country's foreign exchange reserves rose last month for the first time in three months thanks to the issuance of new foreign exchange stabilization bonds worth USD 3 billion and operating profits.
The Bank of Korea on March 5 in a report on such reserves in late February said the amount reached USD 427.62 billion, an increase of USD 1.72 billion from USD 425.91 billion in the previous month.
Given the rapid weakening of the KRW versus the USD late last year, foreign exchange officials intervened in the market by selling dollars, leading to a decline in foreign currency reserves from December last year to January this year. Yet such reserves shifted to growth last month.
The bank said, "Despite measures to stabilize the market such as currency swaps with the National Pension Service and a decline in the dollar-denominated value of other currency assets, foreign exchange reserves rose due to the issuance of new foreign currency stabilization bonds and operating profits."
Securities such as government and corporate bonds took up USD 379.96 billion of the reserves, USD 2.44 billion more than in January, while deposits fell USD 830 million to USD 22.49 billion.
The special drawing rights of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dropped from USD 15.89 billion to USD 15.77 billion.
The IMF position, or claims related to the fund, rose from USD 4.38 billion to USD 4.61 billion. Gold remained the same at USD 4.79 billion.
As of late January, the central bank's foreign exchange reserves ranked 10th worldwide. China was No. 1 at USD 3.39 trillion, followed by Japan (USD 1.39 trillion), Switzerland (USD 1.11 trillion), Russia (USD 833.6 billion), and India (USD 711.5 billion) in that order.
kimhyelin211@korea.kr