South Korea's FX reserves increase in December by most in over two years
FILE PHOTO-A South Korea won note is seen in this illustration photo May 31, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration
SEOUL: South Korea's foreign exchange reserves increased for a second straight month in December 2022 and by the largest amount in more than two years, central bank data showed on Wednesday (Jan 4).
The country's FX reserves stood at US$423.16 billion as of the end of December, up US$7.06 billion over a month, according to the Bank of Korea. It marked the biggest monthly increase since November 2020.
The increase resulted from larger foreign deposits of financial institutions and converted value of non-dollar assets, despite a downside effect from the FX swap programme with the country's pension fund, according to the BOK.
The US dollar index, a measure of the greenback's value against six major currencies, fell 2.3 per cent in the last month of 2022.
