SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign reserves hit a new record high in August due to continued increase in investment returns, central bank data showed on Monday.
Foreign reserves reached a fresh high of 375.46 billion U.S. dollars as of end-August, up 4.08 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the second straight month of expansion as investment returns into securities and interest incomes increased. A weaker U.S. dollar contributed to growth in conversion value of non-dollar assets.
The European single currency appreciated to the U.S. dollar last month, with the Japanese yen gaining 1.8 percent to the greenback.
Among the reserves, securities holdings advanced 7.97 billion dollars from a month earlier to 344.8 billion dollars as of end-August. Deposits reduced 3.91 billion dollars to 21.5 billion dollars, but International Monetary Fund (IMF) positions added 0.01 billion dollars to 1.81 billion dollars.
Special drawing rights rose 0.01 billion dollars to 2.55 billion dollars, while gold bullion was unchanged at 4.79 billion dollars.
