Japan's April foreign reserves amounted to $1 trillion

DPA | 09 May, 2008
Japan's foreign reserves fell in April for the first time in 11 months due to declining market prices of gold and US Treasury bonds, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

The nation's April foreign reserves amounted to $1 trillion at the end of April, down $11.75 billion from the month before.

Gold prices and US Treasury bonds affected the value of such assets held by Japan, as well as the euro's decline against the US dollar, which also led to losses in euro-denominated assets.

Japan's foreign reserves hit a record $1.02 trillion at the end of March.

The nation held $858.76 billion in foreign securities, foreign currency deposits came to $118.75 billion.

Japan had $6.03 billion of the deposits in foreign central banks and the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements, $26.28 billion in Japanese banks and $86.44 billion in foreign financial institutions.

Gold reserves amounted to $21.43 billion.

Japan held $1.38 billion in IMF reserve positions and $3.14 billion in IMF special drawing rights.

Japan's foreign exchange reserves consist mainly of securities and deposits denominated in foreign currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, IMF special drawing rights and gold.