Foreign exchange turnover by banks in South Korea grew by the most since the 2008 global financial crisis in the first quarter on foreigners’ bond investment and exporters’ sale of FX forward deals, the central bank said Thursday.
The daily foreign exchange turnover averaged $49.2 billion in the January-March period, up 14.7 percent from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.
The first-quarter data marked the largest volume since $50.6 billion in the third quarter of 2008.
The BOK said that despite tepid trade, banks’ FX turnover expanded last quarter as foreign investors continued to buy local bonds and Korean exporters increased sales of FX forwards to hedge currency risks.
“Banks’ FX turnover has been on the recovery track since it was dented by the impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis,” said an official at the BOK. (Yonhap News)
