South Korea's Foreign Exchange Reserves Reach $427.36 Billion in June, Up Slightly

▲ U.S. Dollar

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves saw a slight increase last month, driven by a rise in foreign currency deposits from financial institutions.

According to the Bank of Korea on July 3, the country's foreign exchange reserves stood at $427.36 billion as of the end of June, an increase of $370 million from $426.99 billion at the end of May.

The reserves had previously decreased by $880 million during the month of May before rebounding last month.

A Bank of Korea official explained, "Despite market stabilization measures, such as the foreign exchange swap with the National Pension Service, the reserves increased slightly due to factors including an rise in foreign currency deposits at financial institutions."

By asset type, securities fell by $330 million to $380.34 billion.

Special Drawing Rights (SDR) with the IMF ($15.64 billion) and the IMF position ($4.31 billion) decreased by $140 million and $90 million, respectively.

Deposits increased by $920 million to $22.27 billion.

Gold holdings remained at $4.79 billion, as they are recorded at the price of purchase.

As of the end of May, South Korea's foreign exchange reserves ranked 13th in the world at $427 billion.

China held the largest amount at $3.4422 trillion, followed by Japan ($1.3059 trillion), Switzerland ($1.0767 trillion), Russia ($747.4 billion), India ($686.3 billion), Taiwan ($605.1 billion), Germany ($590.7 billion), Saudi Arabia ($487.9 billion), Italy ($452.2 billion), Hong Kong ($445.9 billion), France ($441.6 billion), and Singapore ($430.1 billion), which ranked 2nd through 12th.

South Korea's ranking fell by one spot, overtaken by Singapore.

After maintaining the 9th position globally from September to December of last year, the ranking dropped to 10th in January of this year, and fell two more spots to 12th in February.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)

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