Korea's foreign reserves hit record high in April on weaker dollar
An employee of Hana Bank's central branch in Seoul's Jung District checks foreign bills. Yonhap
South Korea's foreign reserves rose to a fresh record high in April as the U.S. dollar's weakness boosted the value of non-dollar assets, central bank data showed Thursday.
The nation's foreign reserves came to $452.3 billion as of end-April, up $6.18 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.
The FX reserves rose last month as a weaker U.S. dollar bolstered the dollar-conversion value of non-dollar assets.
Foreign securities came to $412 billion as of end-April, up $6.12 billion from the previous month and accounting for 91.1 percent of the FX reserves.
But deposits fell $50 million on-month to $27.2 billion, and gold holdings remained unchanged at $4.79 billion.
As of the end of March, South Korea was the world's ninth-largest holder of FX reserves, down one notch from the previous month. (Yonhap)