Foreign Exchange Reserves Decline for the First Time in Five Months Amid Dollar Strength

Announcement of 'Foreign Exchange Reserves at the End of November 2021' on the 3rd

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Foreign exchange reserves, which had been hitting record highs every month, decreased last month for the first time in five months.

According to the 'Foreign Exchange Reserves at the End of November 2021' announced by the Bank of Korea on the 3rd, South Korea's foreign exchange reserves stood at $463.91 billion last month, down $5.3 billion compared to the end of October.

The foreign exchange reserves had set an all-time high at the end of July with $458.68 billion, then increased for four consecutive months to $463.93 billion at the end of August, $463.97 billion at the end of September, and $469.21 billion at the end of October, continuously breaking records.

The Bank of Korea explained that this was due to a decrease in foreign currency deposits at financial institutions and the USD conversion amount of foreign currency assets denominated in other currencies caused by the strengthening of the US dollar.

In fact, the US dollar index recorded 96.34 at the end of November, which was 3.2% higher than 93.35 at the end of October. A Bank of Korea official stated, "The foreign exchange reserves decreased as the US dollar showed strength."

Securities increased by $2.52 billion during this period to $420.94 billion, while deposits decreased by $7.6 billion to $18.19 billion.

The IMF position, which is the drawing rights of exchangeable currency to the IMF, decreased by $50 million to $4.63 billion.

Meanwhile, as of the end of November, South Korea ranked 8th in the world in terms of the size of foreign exchange reserves. China ranked first with $3.2176 trillion, Japan second with $1.4045 trillion, and Switzerland third with $1.0862 trillion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.