Korea gains $780 million in FX reserves in March amid weak U.S. dollar

[Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves added $780 million in March, rebounding in just one month, as the value of other foreign assets gained amid the weak U.S. dollar.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $426.07 billion at the end of March, up $780 million from the previous month, according to data released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Wednesday. The foreign reserves lost in February after three straight months of gain between January and March this year but recovered in March.

“The weak U.S. dollar led to a rise in the value of assets in other foreign currencies, such as the euro, in conversion to the U.S. dollar,” said an unnamed BOK official.

In March, the U.S. dollar weakened 2.4 percent, leading to a rise in the non-dollar assets.

By asset, securities, including government and corporate bonds, added $3.09 billion in March from a month ago to $377.6 billion. The special drawing rights from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rose $300 million to $4.74 billion.

Deposits, however, shrank $2.61 billion to $24.14 billion in March. Gold reserves remained unchanged at $4.79 billion as the price at purchase was registered as its value.

Korea was ranked No. 9 in foreign exchange volume as of the end of February. China topped the list with $3.13 trillion, followed by Japan ($1.23 trillion), Switzerland ($898.2 billion), Russia ($574.2 billion), and India ($562.7 billion).