South Korea foreign reserves tumble

SEOUL: South Korea's foreign reserves last month fell by the biggest amount since the 2008 global crisis, data showed on Wednesday, after traders have reported of heavy dollar-selling intervention to stop the won's slide.

Foreign currency reserves for Asia's fourth-largest economy fell by $8.81 billion or 2.8 percent to $303.38 billion at the end of September from a record high of $312.19 billion a month before, the Bank of Korea data showed.

It was the biggest monthly fall by amount since South Korean reserves shrank by $11.75 billion in November 2008, when the government poured dollars into the currency market to stem the won's decline.

The Bank of Korea cited in a statement weakness in the euro and British pound against the dollar as some of the factors responsible for the decline in reserves put in the US currency terms, but did not mention intervention.

The won lost more than 9 percent during September against the dollar, suffering its worst monthly fall since early 2009. South Korea's foreign reserves ranked eighth in the world at the end of August, the central bank said.

Copyright Reuters, 2011