S. Korea's FX reserves up for 7th straight month to fresh record high in Oct.

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign reserves climbed for the seventh straight month in October due to a rise in the value of non-dollar assets and an increase in investment returns, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The country's foreign reserves came to a record high of US$426.5 billion as of end-October, up $5.96 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.

The country's FX reserves have risen every month since April after dropping by the largest amount in over a decade in March amid the COVID-19 pandemic-caused market rout.

The BOK said the foreign reserves increased as a weaker U.S. dollar raised the dollar-conversion value of non-dollar assets, while deposits denominated in foreign currencies and investment profits rose.

Last month, the dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's value against a basket of six foreign currencies, fell 0.4 percent. The euro stayed flat per the greenback and the British pound rose 0.7 percent. The Japanese yen gained 0.9 percent versus the dollar.

Foreign securities came to $383.7 billion as of end-October, up $4.57 billion from the previous month and accounting for 90 percent of the FX reserves.

Deposits rose $1.36 billion on-month to $30.5 billion, and gold holdings remained unchanged at $4.79 billion.

As of the end of September, South Korea was the world's ninth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves.

sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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