The Bank of Korea said it can raise about 20 billion U.S. dollars annually without impacting the nation’s foreign exchange reserves.

In data submitted to the National Assembly, the central bank said around 15 billion dollars could be secured without reducing reserves and that the issuance of private sector bonds could produce another 5 billion.

The statement comes as the United States continues to demand 350 billion dollars in direct investment as a condition for lowering its tariffs on South Korean goods, which the bank warned would place significant pressure on foreign exchange supply and demand.

It also emphasized that South Korea’s reserves are held to stabilize markets and have not been used for overseas direct investment.

The nation's reserves stood at 416-point-29 billion dollars as of the end of last month.