Foreign reserves end three-month dip in July

A worker sorts through stacks of dollar bills at Hana Bank’s Counterfeit Notes Response Center in Jung District, central Seoul, on Wednesday.[YONHAP]

Korea’s foreign reserves ended their three-month dip in July on the back of a foreign currency-denominated debt sale and increased values of non-U.S. dollar assets, central bank data showed Monday.
 
The country’s foreign reserves had come to $413.51 billion as of end-July, up $1.3 billion from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
 
The central bank attributed the increase to the sale of $1 billion in foreign exchange stabilization bonds and a rise in the converted value of nondollar assets amid the weak greenback.
 
The dollar index that gauges the greenback’s value against major peers fell 1.3 percent last month, boosting the converted value of nondollar assets, the central bank said.
 
Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.
 
Foreign securities, such as U.S. Treasuries, had been valued at $367.05 billion as of end-July, up $3.07 billion from a month earlier. They accounted for 88.8 percent of foreign reserves, the data showed.
 
The value of deposits stood at $22.35 billion at the end of July, down $2.08 billion over the cited period. Korea ranked as the world’s ninth-largest holder of foreign reserves at the end of June, the BOK said.

Yonhap