South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves have dropped for the first time in four months.
According to the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Thursday, South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to 375-point-17 billion dollars at the end of October, down by two-point-six billion dollars from the end of September.
It is the first time the nation’s foreign reserves dipped on-month since it declined by a little over one billion dollars in June from May.
The central bank said proceeds from managing foreign currency-denominated assets have increased overall, but it was not enough to offset the losses of values of euro-denominated assets. The euro fell two-point-two percent against the U.S. dollar last month, while the British pound plunged six percent against the greenback.
Of the foreign exchange reserves, assets kept in the form of securities, such as national bonds, corporate bonds and mortgage-backed securities(MBS) declined by 400 million dollars in value.
As of late September, South Korea held the world’s seventh largest foreign reserves. China came in first, followed by Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Russia.