Korea's FX reserves up in March

Published : Apr 5, 2017 - 09:44 Updated : Apr 5, 2017 - 10:32

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in March from a month earlier due to a hike in the value of non-dollar currencies when converted into the US greenback, central bank data showed Wednesday.

As of the end of March, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to $375.3 billion, up 1.39 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.

(Yonhap)

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 country's reserve position at the IMF stood at $1.75 billion as of the end of March, compared with $1.74 billion a month earlier.

Holdings in gold bullion remained unchanged at $4.79 billion during the same period, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the BOK said South Korea was the world's eighth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves as of end-February, following China, Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Russia and Hong Kong, in that order. (Yonhap)