S.Korea foreign reserves up for 6th mth in Aug

Published: 01 Sep 2009 18:34:32 PST

SEOUL, Sept 2 - South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose for a sixth consecutive month in August to hit a 13-month high, lifted by investment gains and repayment of borrowings by local banks, central bank data showed on Wednesday.

The country's foreign reserves, which ranked sixth largest in the world at the end of July, were also boosted by the unwinding of a $640 million currency swap between the state-run pension agency and the central bank upon its expiry, the Bank of Korea said.

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose by $7.95 billion, or 3.3 percent, to $245.46 billion at the end of August, the largest amount since July 2008.

South Korea's foreign reserves ($ billion, at end-month):

Aug July June May April March Feb 245.46 237.51 231.73 226.77 212.48 206.34 201.54