S. Korea's FX reserves down in December

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign exchange reserves fell slightly in December from a month earlier due to a decrease in the dollar-converted value of non-dollar currencies, central bank data showed Wednesday.

As of the end of December, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to US$371.1 billion, down $880 million from the previous month, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a statement.

Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, as well as International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.

The country's reserve positions at the IMF stood at $1.73 billion as of the end of December, compared with $1.74 billion a month earlier.

Holdings in gold bullion remained unchanged at $4.79 billion during the same period, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the BOK said South Korea was the world's eighth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves as of end-November, following China, Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Russia and Hong Kong, in that order.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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