Korea's foreign reserves rise for 1st time in 3 months in June: BOK

Korea's foreign reserves rebounded in June from their lowest level in five years, according to central bank data released on Thursday.

The country's foreign reserves stood at $410.2 billion as of the end of June, an increase of $5.61 billion from the previous month, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the largest amount since January, when the reserves amounted to $411.01 billion.

The figure had declined for two consecutive months since April, reaching the lowest level since April 2020, when foreign reserves stood at $403.98 billion.

Last month's increase was attributed to a rise in the U.S. dollar-converted value of foreign currency assets denominated in other currencies due to a weaker dollar, as well as higher investment returns, the BOK said.

Foreign securities, such as U.S. Treasurys, were valued at $358.5 billion as of end-June, up $1.47 billion from a month earlier. They accounted for 87.4 percent of foreign reserves.

The value of deposits rose 6.5 percent on month to $26.54 billion during the cited period.

Special drawing rights and gold bullion both inched up to $15.89 billion and $4.79 billion, respectively, while the country's International Monetary Fund reserve positions gained 1.1 percent to stand at $4.47 billion as of the end of June, the data showed.

Korea ranked as the world's 10th-largest holder of foreign reserves at the end of May.

China topped the list, followed by Japan, Switzerland, India and Russia, according to the BOK.

Yonhap