S. Korea's foreign reserves hit record high in October

SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign reserves rose to an all-time high in October due to increased profits from investment of foreign currency assets, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The country's foreign reserves came to US$469.21 billion as of end-October, up $5.24 billion from the previous month, according to the data provided by 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.

Deposits surged $5.95 billion on-month to $25.79 billion, and gold holdings remained unchanged at $4.79 billion.

Foreign securities, however, came to $418.42 billion as of end-October, down $940 million from the previous month. The amount still represented 89.2 percent of the total reserves.

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

kokobj@yna.co.kr
(END)