Data from the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Friday revealed that South Korea’s foreign reserves had gone down for a second consecutive month in September due to the U.S. dollar’s strength and stabilization initiatives.
The nation’s foreign reserves totaled $414.12 billion at the end of September, a decrease of $4.18 billion from the preceding month. The BOK attributed this to the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s value against other currencies, rising by 3 percent in the same period.
The reserves consist of deposits and securities in foreign currencies, International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve positions, special drawing rights, and gold bullion. Of these, foreign securities, such as U.S. Treasuries, had a value of $372.59 billion by the end of September, a drop of $6.44 billion from the previous month.
Meanwhile, the value of deposits stood at $17.4 billion at the end of September, an increase of $2.56 billion from the month before.
As of August, South Korea was the world’s ninth-largest holder of foreign reserves, according to the BOK.