South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves fell for the first time in seven months in December as the government moved to stabilize volatility in the currency market.

The Bank of Korea(BOK) said Tuesday that the nation’s foreign currency reserves stood at 428‑point‑05 billion U.S. dollars at the end of December, down two‑point‑six billion dollars from a month earlier.

The figure was the first decline since May of last year.

The central bank said that measures to curb volatility in the foreign exchange market contributed to the drop.

In December, the BOK extended its foreign exchange swap agreement with the National Pension Service by one year and executed swap transactions, providing dollars in exchange for won.

However, the central bank did not disclose how much of the reserves were used for volatility‑mitigation measures, including the currency swaps.

As of the end of November, South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves ranked as the ninth largest in the world.