Tokyo - Japan's foreign reserves hit a record high in December as US Treasury bond prices increased, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

The nation's foreign exchange reserves amounted to 1.03 trillion dollars at the end of December, marking a the second monthly rise in a row.

Foreign securities came to 908.02 billion dollars and foreign currency deposits totaled 95.29 billion dollars.

Japan held 7.13 billion dollars of the deposits in foreign central banks and the Basle, Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements, 21.51 billion dollars in Japanese banks and 66.65 billion dollars in foreign financial institutions.

Gold reserves came to 21.28 billion dollars.

The nations had 2.66 billion dollars in IMF reserve positions and 3.03 billion dollars in IMF special drawing rights.

Other reserve assets came to 374 million dollars.

Japan's foreign exchange reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in foreign currencies, gold, and reserve positions and special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund. (dpa)