BOK Buys More Gold in November

From Yonhap:

South Korea's central bank said Friday it had raised its holdings of gold in four months in November in an effort to diversify its portfolio of foreign exchange reserves worth more than US$300 billion.

South Korea purchased 15 tonnes of gold, raising the country's gold holding to 54.4 tonnes at a value of US$2.17 billion at the end of November, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The move marked the BOK's second purchase of the precious metal so far this year. It bought 25 tonnes of gold bullion in June and July for the first time in 13 years.

The BOK has been making efforts to diversify its foreign exchange reserves by curtailing the portion of its U.S. dollar-denominated assets. Gold bullion accounted for 0.7 percent out of the total reserves as of the end of November.

Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, along with International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights and gold bullion.

As of the end of October, South Korea was the world's eighth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves.

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