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This file photo shows a Hana Bank official in Seoul inspecting US banknotes before their release into the local financial market. (Yonhap) |
South Korea said Monday it has received Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth of some $11.7 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in line with the international organization's move to allocate its new asset reserves to member countries.
In early August, the board of IMF governors approved a $650 billion expansion of its reserve assets, called SDRs, to allocate to IMF member countries in accordance with their existing quotas.
The move is aimed at helping countries cope with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In proportion to Seoul's quotas with the IMF, currently at 1.8 percent, South Korea has received 8.2 billion SDRs, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The move will expand the country's foreign exchange reserves by the increased value of SDRs, the ministry said. South Korea's FX reserves amounted to a record high of $458.7 billion as of end-July.
The allocation will raise the value of its SDR holdings in the IMF to $15.3 billion from $3.5 billion, the ministry said.
The government said it will "actively" participate in discussions by the IMF and the Group of 20 over ways to channel reserve assets by advanced countries to low-income countries.
The IMF earlier said about $275 billion in SDRs will be allocated to developing nations and low-income countries. (Yonhap)
