Taiwan's foreign exchange (forex) reserves hit another all-time high at the end of January due to increased returns from the central bank's management of forex reserves and the appreciation of the euro and other currencies against the U.S. dollar, the bank said Tuesday.
The central bank said that at the end of January, Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves totaled US$463.043 billion, an increase of US$1.259 billion from a month earlier.
It was the third consecutive month in which Taiwan had posted record high forex reserves.
In addition to the central bank's management of the forex reserves, the appreciation of the euro and other currencies against the U.S. dollar also contributed to the increase in January's foreign exchange reserves, according to Harry Yen (顏輝煌), head of the bank's Foreign Exchange Department.
The euro rose 0.37 percent against the U.S. dollar in January, while the value of the British pound climbed 3.7 percent and the Japanese yen edged 1.5 percent higher, according to the central bank.
"Foreign exchange reserves denominated in these currencies were worth more in terms of the base currency, the U.S. dollar," the bank said.
Meanwhile, the market value of securities investment and the Taiwan dollar-denominated deposits held by foreign investors reached US$344.1 billion at the end of January, equivalent to 74 percent of Taiwan's forex reserves, the central bank data shows.
source of news: CNA
(By Liao Yu-yang and Christie Chen)
