S. Korea's foreign reserves rise for 1st time in 3 months in June

Seoul, July 3 (IANS) South Korea's foreign reserves rebounded in June from the lowest level in five years, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's foreign reserves stood at US$410.2 billion as of end-June, up $5.61 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the largest amount since January when the foreign 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, reports Yonhap news agency.

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. Treasuries, 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 over the cited period.

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

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

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

This undated file photo shows a banker checking dollars at Hana Bank's Counterfeit Notes Response Center in Seoul. (Yonhap)

Meanwhile, the sales of derivative-linked securities in South Korea increased in the first quarter of the year from a year earlier, data showed.

The combined value of equity-linked securities (ELS) and derivative-linked securities (DLS) issued in the first quarter came to 15.8 trillion won ($11.65 billion), up 2.8 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

Their outstanding value came to 84.6 trillion won at the end of March, up 3 trillion won over the cited period, the data showed.

—IANS

na/