Forex Reserves Continue to Shrink in August

Foreign exchange reserves fell for a second consecutive month in August on the strength of the U.S. dollar against some other currencies.

The Bank of Korea said the nation's forex holdings stood at US$367.9 billion at the end of last month, down nearly $3 billion from July. The central bank attributed the slump to a fall in the U.S. dollar-denominated value of some currencies including the British pound and the Australian dollar.

The pound fell 1.2 percent against the greenback in August, while the Australian dollar shed a little over 2 percent.

Korea remained the world's sixth-largest holder of foreign reserves at the end of July. China topped the list, followed by Japan and Saudi Arabia.