▲ In this file photo taken April 3, 2026, an official piles up U.S. dollar bank notes at Hana Bank's Counterfeit Notes Response Center in Seoul. (Yonhap)

foreign reserves-tally

Korea's foreign reserves rise in April despite FX market-stabilizing measures

SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign reserves rebounded in April despite efforts by authorities to manage exchange rate volatility, the central bank said Thursday.

The country's foreign reserves stood at US$427.88 billion as of end-April, up $4.22 billion from a month earlier, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The figure marked a turnaround from a $3.97 billion decline in March, which was the sharpest monthly drop in about a year.

The reserves had fallen in December for the first time since June and continued to decline through January before rising in February.

"Despite market stabilization measures such as foreign exchange swaps with the National Pension Service, foreign exchange reserves increased in April due to a rise in the U.S. dollar value of foreign currency-denominated assets, as well as higher investment returns," the BOK said.

Foreign securities, including U.S. Treasuries, rose by $6.37 billion from a month earlier to $384.07 billion at end-April, accounting for 89.8 percent of the country's total foreign reserves.

The value of foreign currency deposits lost $2.29 billion to $18.76 billion, while special drawing rights (SDRs) rose $240 million to $15.81 billion.

Gold bullion holdings remained unchanged at $4.79 billion.

The country's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decreased by $90 million from a month earlier to $4.45 billion at the end of April, the data showed.

South Korea ranked as the world's 12th-largest holder of foreign reserves as of end-February, down from 10th place a month earlier.

China topped the list, followed by Japan, Switzerland, Russia and India, according to the BOK.

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