South Korea's Foreign Exchange Reserves down in October

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves fell in October from a month earlier due to a decrease in the dollar-converted value of non-dollar denominated assets amid a strong dollar, South Korea's central bank data showed Thursday.

    As of the end of October, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to US$375.17 billion, down $2.6 billion from the previous month, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a statement. The BOK said increased gains from investments in foreign assets didn't help offset the declines. 

    Foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, as well as International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion. The country's reserve positions at the IMF stood at $1.77 billion as of the end of October compared with $1.8 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 seventh-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves as of end-October, following China, Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Russia, in that order.