Taiwan's Forex Reserves Hit 6th Straight Monthly Record High in May

Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves increased US$156 million from a month earlier to US$421.651 billion in May for the sixth consecutive monthly record high, according to the central bank.

Taiwan remained the world's fourth largest forex reserve holder, trailing China, Japan and Russia. And South Korea, Taiwan's major external trade rival, saw its forex reserves rise US$5.07 billion to US$360.911 billion in May.

In the same month Taiwan had net inflow of foreign funds of over US$3 billion, a major contributor to higher forex reserves for the month. However, the depreciation of the euro and the British pound against the U.S. dollar undermined the value of the said two currencies held by the central bank in Taiwan.

As of the end of May the value of Taiwan's stock, bonds and NT-dollar deposits held by foreigners reached US$285.3 billion, accounting for 68% of the total forex reserves, both the highest of their kinds. (JL)