In July this year, Korea's foreign exchange reserves were $427.95 billion, up $590 million from the end of the previous month, the Bank of Korea said on the 5th. The Bank of Korea explained that this was because it issued new foreign currency foreign exchange stabilization bonds and the U.S. dollar-converted value of its held currency asset increased. The global ranking by size of foreign exchange reserves also rose from 13th to 10th.
According to "Foreign exchange reserves at end-July" released by the Bank of Korea the same day, marketable securities such as stocks and bonds among the foreign exchange reserves stood at $380.01 billion, accounting for 88.8% of the total. Deposits, a cash-like asset, were $23.13 billion (5.4%), International Monetary Fund special drawing rights (SDR) were $15.7 billion (3.7%), gold was $4.79 billion (1.1%), and the IMF position was $4.32 billion (1%). The IMF position refers to IMF-related claim held through paid-in investment and other contributions by IMF member countries.
As a result, as of the end of June, the ranking of foreign exchange reserves climbed to 10th in the world, overtaking Italy, France, and Singapore. It had fallen to 13th after being overtaken by Italy and France in February and by Singapore in May, but recovered. Singapore fell by $3.9 billion to 11th, and Italy decreased by $39.6 billion to take 12th. France is estimated to have declined by more than $29 billion.
No. 1 was China ($3.4163 trillion), No. 2 was Japan ($1.2875 trillion), and No. 3 was Switzerland ($1.0877 trillion). China fell by $26 billion, and Japan also decreased by $18.4 billion. In contrast, Switzerland increased by $10.9 billion.
The share of gold in foreign exchange reserves is expected to grow going forward. The Bank of Korea decided to purchase export-designated gold produced domestically. Gold purchases, which were halted after 2013, are resuming for the first time in 13 years.