Korea's FX reserves up in January

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in January from a month earlier due to increased gains from investment in foreign assets and an increase in the dollar-converted value of non-dollar currencies, central bank data showed Friday.

As of the end of January, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to $374.04 billion, up $2.94 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.

(Yonhap)

Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, as well as International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.

The country's reserve positions at the IMF stood at $1.75 billion as of the end of January, compared to $1.73 billion a month earlier.

Holdings in gold bullion remained unchanged at $4.79 billion during the same period, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the BOK said South Korea was the world's eighth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves as of end-December, following China, Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Russia, in that order. (Yonhap)