Korea’s foreign reserves up $470 mn in June on weak U.S. dollar

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves added nearly $500 million in June as the value of non-U.S. dollar foreign currency assets rose amid the weak dollar.

According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Wednesday, the country’s foreign exchange reserves stood at $421.4 billion at the end of June, up $470 million from the previous month.

“The gain came as the value of non-U.S. dollar foreign currency assets rose and deposits held by financial institutions increased,” said an unnamed official from the BOK.

The greenback depreciated 0.8 percent in June, resulting in an increase in the value of other foreign currency assets when converted to U.S. dollars.

By asset type, securities, including government and corporate bonds were down by $3.32 billion on month to $375.6 billion in June.

Deposits stood at $21.56 billion in June, up $3.74 billion from a month ago. The special drawing rights from the International Monetary Fund also rose $30 million to $14.74 billion.

Gold reserves were unchanged at $4.79 billion.

Korea was the ninth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves in the world at the end of May. China ranked top with $3.17 trillion, followed by Japan with $1.25 trillion, Switzerland with $886 billion, India with $590.7 billion, and Russia with $584.2 billion.