South Korea's foreign reserves fell for two months in a row as the strong dollar trend reduced the conversion value of non-dollar assets such as the European single currency and the British pound, central bank data showed Monday.
Foreign reserves were 364.41 billion U.S. dollars as of end- September, down 3.13 billion dollars from a month ago, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the largest monthly decline since May 2012 when the reserves decreased 5.97 billion dollars.
The foreign reserves kept a record-breaking trend for 13 straight months from July 2013 before falling in August and September. The reserves have stayed above the 300 billion-dollar mark since April 2011 when it topped the level for the first time in the country's history.
Last month's reduction came as the euro and the pound depreciated versus the U.S. dollar, leading to a decrease in non- dollar assets converted into the greenback. The euro sank 3.7 percent to the dollar in September, with the pound sliding 2.1 percent.
The nation's foreign reserves consisted of 332.74 billion dollars of securities, 21.23 billion dollars of deposits, 4.79 billion dollars of gold bullion, 3.37 billion dollars of special drawing rights and 2.27 billion dollars of International Monetary Fund positions.
As of end-August, South Korea ranked the world's seventh largest holder of foreign reserves following China, Japan, Switzerland, Russia, China's Taiwan and Brazil. Enditem