SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign reserves rebounded last month as the weak U.S. dollar increased a conversion value in non-dollar assets, central bank data showed on Friday.
Foreign currency reserves added 2.94 U.S. dollars over the month to reach 374.04 billion dollars as of end-January, posting the first growth in four months, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The dollar weakened on uncertainties about the U.S. Federal Reserve's timing of interest rate hike. Following the quarter-percentage-point hike in its policy rate in December, the Fed indicated three rate increases in 2017.
The European single currency appreciated 2.1 percent versus the greenback in January, with the British pound and the Japanese yen rising over 2 percent. The Australian dollar advanced 4.7 percent against the dollar.
The South Korean government issued 1 billion dollars of foreign exchange stabilization bond, denominated in the dollar, on Jan. 12. It increased the foreign reserves owned by the central bank.
The foreign reserves are composed of 338.94 billion dollars in securities holdings, 25.64 billion dollars in deposits, 4.79 billion dollars in gold bullion, 2.92 billion dollars of special drawing rights and 1.75 billion dollars of IMF positions.
As of the end of December, South Korea was the eighth largest holder of foreign reserves.
