South Korea March FX reserves rise after 4 months of declines

[SEOUL] South Korea's foreign reserves rose in March, after declining for four straight months, as the dollar broadly weakened, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

The Bank of Korea said in a statement that its foreign reserves rose by US$4.08 billion last month to stand at US$369.84 billion as of end-March.

That was the highest since end-July last year.

The central bank said the boost in reserves was mainly due to the appreciation of some currencies it has in its stockpile such as the euro and sterling against the dollar.

The greenback eased broadly in recent weeks after markets felt the US Federal Reserve would push back the timing of its next interest rate hike, fuelling global investor appetite for risky assets.

According to the bank's data, the euro rose 3.9 per cent against the dollar last month while sterling gained 3.7 per cent over the same period. The Australian dollar jumped 7.7 per cent.

The bank does not give a breakdown of its foreign exchange reserves.

Management gains from the reserves also contributed to the rise, the bank said.

As of end-February, South Korea had the world's seventh-largest foreign reserves.

REUTERS