South Korea foreign exchange reserves growth shrinks in August

Growth in South Korea's foreign exchange reserves declined in August on weakness in non-US currencies, central bank data showed on Tuesday. South Korea's foreign exchange reserves, the world's fifth-largest, rose to $255.3 billion as of the end of August from $254.8 billion a month ago, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.
The gain of $460 million, or 0.2 percent, was compared to a $4.1 billion jump in July when South Korea's foreign exchange authorities were thought by dealers to have carried out dollar-buying intervention to cap the won's strength. The central bank attributed the rise in August to a small increase in investment gains despite falls in values of non-US currencies such as the euro.
South Korean foreign reserves, which rank behind those of China, Japan, Russia and Taiwan, have risen by 6.8 percent, or $16.34 billion, in the first eight months of the year. The central bank said 87.1 percent of total reserves were invested in securities, compared with 12.8 percent deposited at financial institutions. South Korea's foreign reserves ($billion, at end-month).