TOKYO - JAPAN'S foreign reserves jumped to a record high in August after the country received a one-time allocation from the International Monetary Fund as a part of the fund's disbursement of US$250 billion (S$359 billion) in reserves globally.

The allocation was agreed by Group of 20 leaders in April as a way to inject liquidity into the global financial system to help countries better weather the economic crisis.

Japan received US$15.3 billion worth of IMF special drawing rights (SDRs), an international reserve asset and the fund's internal unit of account.

SDRs are based on a basket of international currencies including the US dollar and British pound, and can be exchanged for hard currency.

Along with gains from its investment in US bonds and exchange gains in the euro, Japan's reserves increased by US$19.683 billion in August to US$1.042 trillion, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday.

The MOF has not disclosed the currency breakdown of Japan's foreign reserves, the world's second largest after China's, but a large part is thought to be in dollars.

About two-thirds is invested in sovereign bonds, the government said last year. In terms of maturity, slightly more than a quarter is in bonds with maturities of five years or longer.

But some lawmakers from the incoming ruling Democratic Party of Japan, which won a landslide victory in Aug 30 election, have called for more active management of Japan's reserves, such as taking on more credit risk. -- REUTERS