South Korea’s foreign reserves decreased by nearly five billion dollars in April, hitting their lowest point in five years. 

According to the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Thursday, the nation’s foreign currency reserves stood at 404-point-67 billion dollars as of the end of April, down four-point-99 billion dollars from a month earlier.

It marks the largest fall since April last year, when foreign currency reserves shrank by five-point-99 billion dollars.

With the sharp drop, the reserves reached their lowest point since April 2020, when the figure posted 404-point-98 billion dollars. 

The BOK attributed the plunge to a currency swap agreement between the central bank and the National Pension Service, as well as to a decline in foreign currency deposits at financial institutions.

As of the end of March, South Korea ranked tenth in the world in terms of foreign exchange reserves. 

China topped the list at over three trillion dollars, followed by Japan, Switzerland and India.