SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rebounded last month, driven by growing returns on foreign asset investments and increased foreign currency deposits at domestic financial institutions, central bank data showed Wednesday.
The total reserves rose 2.60 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier to 443.16 billion dollars at the end of October, turning around from a decrease of 1.72 billion dollars in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The rebound was attributed to expanded profits from foreign asset management and a growth in foreign currency-denominated deposits at local financial institutions.
By asset type, foreign securities such as government and corporate bonds dwindled 3.59 billion dollars month-on-month to 382.43 billion dollars in October.
Despite the dip, the securities remained the largest component, accounting for 86.3 percent of the total reserves.
Foreign currency deposits reached 36.27 billion dollars, followed by special drawing rights (SDRs) with 15.41 billion dollars, gold holdings with 4.79 billion dollars and the IMF reserve position with 4.25 billion dollars. ■
