À̹ÌÁö È®´ë South Korea¡¯s foreign exchange reserves in March shrank nearly $9 billion in a month, the biggest loss since the 2008 global financial crisis, as authorities took actions to defend the Korean won amid frenzied demand for the greenback prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The country¡¯s forex reserves dipped $8.96 billion on month to $400.21 billion as of late March, returning to levels of May 2018, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday.
The ebb in foreign currency coffers was owed to ¡°the decreased value of other dollar-denominated foreign currencies due to the strengthening greenback¡± and ¡°market stabilization efforts,¡± the bank said.
Demand for the world¡¯s reserve currency surged as investors fled to safe cash amid fears of a global recession driven by the coronavirus outbreak.
À̹ÌÁö È®´ë To ease the dollar liquidity crunch, the BOK last month signed a $60 billion currency swap deal with the U.S. Federal Reserve, an arrangement that would last for at least six months.
This has helped steady the volatile currency markets. The Korean won, which plunged to an 11-year low against the U.S. dollar to 1,285.7 in mid-March, has since recovered and was trading at 1,229.50 on Friday.
The BOK¡¯s forex reserves in foreign securities stood at $357.6 billion in March, down $13.62 billion from a month ago. Foreign savings rose $4.62 billion to $31.72 billion, with its special drawing rights up $40 million at $3.32 billion. Its gold bullion holdings and reserve position in the International Monetary Fund were largely unchanged at $4.79 billion and $2.78 billion, respectively.
By Kim Hyo-jin
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]