Korea's foreign reserves surge to four-year high

Korea's foreign reserves rose by the largest amount in August due to an increase in dollar-denominated assets, the central bank said Thursday.

The country's foreign reserves stood at $442.28 billion as of the end of August, up $14.33 billion from a month earlier, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The on-month gain marked the largest increase since the BOK began compiling the data in 1971, while the balance marked the highest level since May 2022, when it stood at $447.71 billion.

The BOK attributed the sharp increase to a rise in foreign currency deposits held by financial institutions, as well as an increase in the dollar value of overseas assets and management profits.

Foreign securities, including U.S. Treasuries, increased $7.07 billion from a month earlier to $387.07 billion at the end of August, accounting for 87.5 percent of the country's total foreign reserves.

The value of foreign currency deposits rose $7.17 billion to $30.3 billion, while special drawing rights rose $60 million to $15.77 billion.

Gold bullion holdings remained unchanged at $4.79 billion.

Yonhap