Korea's foreign exchange reserves fell slightly from a month earlier in June due to the reduced value of non-U.S. dollar assets, central bank data showed Tuesday.
As of the end of June, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to US$369.9 billion, down $1.01 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.
Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, as well as International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.
The on-month drop was mainly due to the dollar's strength that drove down the dollar-denominated value of other non-dollar currencies such as the euro and the British pound, said the statement.
In June, one pound lost its value by 8.0 percent to the dollar and the euro also fell 0.2 percent against the greenback, it said.
Last month, Britain's decision to leave the European Union pushed up the value of safe assets such as the dollar and the yen.
The country's reserve positions at the IMF fell $10 million to $1.81 billion in June compared to a month earlier. Holdings in gold bullion remained unchanged at $4.79 billion during the same period, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the BOK said Korea was the world's seventh-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves as of end-June, following China, Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Russia, in that order. (Yonhap)
