"Due to Foreign Exchange Swap with National Pension Service..." Foreign Exchange Reserves Decrease by $880 Million in May

As of the End of May, Reserves Fell by $880 Million to $426.99 Billion
Impact of Foreign Exchange Swap with National Pension Service
South Korea Ranks 12th Globally in Foreign Exchange Reserves as of End-April

Last month, South Korea's foreign exchange reserves decreased by nearly 900 million US dollars. Analysts attribute the decrease in reserves to market stabilization measures, such as the foreign exchange swap with the National Pension Service.

According to the Bank of Korea on June 4, as of the end of May 2026, South Korea's foreign exchange reserves stood at 426.99 billion US dollars, down 880 million US dollars from the end of the previous month (427.88 billion US dollars). A Bank of Korea official explained, "The decline, which occurred in just one month, was mainly due to market stabilization measures such as the foreign exchange swap with the National Pension Service."

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the value of the dollar against the currencies of six major countries, increased slightly by 0.1% from 98.96 at the end of April to 99.02 at the end of May. The value of other major currencies against the dollar fell for the euro (-0.2%) and the British pound (-0.3%), while the Japanese yen (0.7%) and the Australian dollar (0.6%) rose.

An employee at Hana Bank's Counterfeiting and Forgery Response Center in Jung-gu, Seoul is organizing US dollars. Photo by Yonhap News

By asset type, securities—including government bonds, corporate bonds, and government agency bonds—decreased by 3.39 billion US dollars from the previous month to 380.68 billion US dollars. Securities accounted for 89.2% of the total foreign exchange reserves. Deposits (5.0%) increased by 2.59 billion US dollars to 21.35 billion US dollars. Special Drawing Rights (SDR) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stood at 15.78 billion US dollars (3.7%), gold was 4.79 billion US dollars (1.1%), and the IMF position was 4.4 billion US dollars (1.0%).

As of the end of April, South Korea ranked 12th in the world in terms of foreign exchange reserves. China had the largest reserves at 3.4105 trillion US dollars. Among the top 12, only two countries saw a decrease in their foreign exchange reserves: India, ranked fifth (-400 million US dollars), and Saudi Arabia, ranked eighth (-1.4 billion US dollars).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.