Korea forex reserves at record high of $316.84b

South Korea’s foreign-exchange reserves rose for a fourth straight month to a record high in April due to gains in the value of non-US dollar assets and higher returns on investments, the Bank of Korea said Thursday.

Reserves totalled $316.84 billion at the end of April, topping the previous high of $315.95 billion set in March.

The BOK attributed the monthly gain largely to the strength of the UK pound and Japanese yen against the dollar, which resulted in a rise in the value of non-dollar assets.

Of the total reserves, some $284.62 billion, or about 89.8 percent, was held in securities, $23.83 billion in deposits and $2.67 billion in reserves with the International Monetary Fund. Another $3.55 billion was held in special drawing rights at the IMF, while $2.17 billion was in gold.

South Korea’s reserves were the seventh-largest in the world, trailing China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Brazil and Switzerland, at the end of March.

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Category: Korea