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Foreign reserves increase to US$272.8bn record high

The nation's foreign reserves reached US$272.818 billion as at the end of last month, a new record and an increase of US$2.507 billion on the previous month's figure, central bank data showed yesterday.

The central bank statement attributed the increase in foreign reserves to interest income, appreciation of the government's holdings in currencies, such as the euro and the yen, against the greenback and a net inward investment by foreign investors during the first month of the year.

Bank Deputy Governor Hsu Yi-hsiung (徐義雄) said that Taiwan had now been overtaken by India in terms of the size of its foreign reserves. India had foreign reserves of US$279.5 billion as of Jan. 25, the fourth-largest foreign reserves in the world, after China (US$1.528 trillion), Japan (US$948 billion) and Russia (US$479.4 billion).

South Korea, Taiwan's major competitor in the high-tech export industries, is also catching up.

The central bank in Seoul had accumulated US$261.8 billion in foreign reserves as at the end of December.
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