Ratio of short-term debt to foreign reserves hits over 11-year low in Q1

The ratio of Korea's short-term foreign debt to its foreign reserves fell to the lowest level in over 11 years in the first quarter on the back of a fall in borrowing by local banks and a fall in foreign investment in local bonds, data showed Wednesday.

The country's short-term external debt, with a maturity of one year or less, totaled $103 billion as of the end of March, decreasing $4.3 billion from three months earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). 

The end-March figure accounted for 26.6 percent of the country's total external debt, also down 0.5 percentage point from the previous quarter, the data showed.

The nation's total external liability reached $385.8 billion at the end of March, also down $9.6 billion over the cited period.

The ratio of short-term foreign debt to its foreign reserves stood at 27.8 percent at the end of March, down from 29.1 percent at the end of last year, marking the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2004, when the comparable figure was 27.3 percent.

Korea's short-term foreign debt, which refers to external debt with a maturity of less than one year, was an area of concern during past financial turmoil as a sharp rise in foreign debt left lenders vulnerable to external shocks.

The ratio had sharply surged during the global financial crisis, hitting 79.3 percent in the third quarter of 2008. (Yonhap)