S. Korea’s foreign reserves fall by $430m in May

South Korea’s foreign reserves dropped for the second consecutive month in May, with a decrease of $430 million to $412.83 billion, following a larger decline of $5.99 billion in April, Xinhua reported on Wednesday citing a central bank data.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) explained that a foreign exchange swap deal with the National Pension Service offset higher investment income from the foreign reserves, leading to the consecutive decline.

The country’s foreign reserves totalled $413.83 billion at the end of April, $370.41 billion comprising securities, $18.50 billion deposits, $14.75 billion special drawing rights, $4.79 billion gold bullion, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) position.

Despite the recent dip, South Korea maintained its position as the world’s ninth-largest holder of foreign reserves at the end of April, a ranking it held unchanged in May.