South Korea's foreign exchange(FX) reserves hit their biggest monthly drop since the 2008 global financial crisis. 

According to the Bank of Korea on Friday, the country's foreign exchange reserves came to 400-point-21 billion dollars at the end of March, down eight-point-96 billion dollars from a month earlier.

It marks the biggest drop since November 2008 during the global financial crisis when the reserves shrank by eleven-point-75 billion dollars. 

The country's FX reserves fell to the lowest level last month since May 2018.

The central bank explained that the drop in FX reserves is the result of market stabilization steps and strengthening of the U.S. greenback that reduced the dollar value of reserves held in other currencies. 

South Korea retained its position as the world's ninth-largest holder of foreign exchange reserves at the end of February, with China topping the list, followed by Japan and Switzerland.