S. Korea's foreign reserves down for 1st time in 5 months in November

South Korea's foreign reserves shrank for the first time in five months in November due to a decline in the dollar-converted value of assets denominated in other foreign currencies, central bank data showed Friday.

The country's foreign reserves came to $463.91 billion as of end-November, down $5.3 billion from the previous month, according to the data provided by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

This marked the first time in five months that the foreign reserves have shrunk.

The decline stemmed partly from a fall in the value of non-dollar assets when converted into the greenback, the bank said. Last month, most major currencies lost ground against the dollar.

Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.

The data showed that foreign securities came to $420.94 billion at the end of November, up $2.52 billion from the previous month. The figure accounted for 90.7 percent of total foreign reserves.

Deposits, however, fell $7.6 billion on-month to $18.19 billion, while gold holdings remained unchanged at $4.79 billion, according to the data.

As of end-October, South Korea is the world's eighth-largest holder of foreign reserves. China led the pack by owning around $3.22 trillion worth of foreign reserves, the data showed. (Yonhap)