Banks' foreign currency deposits up 9.7% in January

Published : Feb 16, 2017 - 12:32 Updated : Feb 16, 2017 - 12:32

Foreign currency deposits held by banks operating in South Korea rose 9.7 percent in January from a month earlier as exporters increased their US dollar deposits, central bank data showed Thursday.

Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by domestic and foreign banks here reached $64.65 billion in January up from $58.91 billion a month earlier, the Bank of Korea said.

(Yonhap)

Foreign currency deposits held by domestic banks rose 7.7 percent to $53.36 billion from $49.52 billion during the same period. The deposits by foreign banks increased 20.1 percent to $11.28 billion from $9.39 billion, it said.

Foreign deposits include those held by foreigners who have stayed in South Korea for more than six months, as well as foreign companies operating here.

The BOK attributed the month-on-month gain mainly to increased US dollar deposits by export companies.

By currency, dollar deposits came to $55.23 billion at the end of January, up from $49.66 billion from the previous month.

Deposits held in the euro fell $240 million to $2.72 billion.

Chinese yuan deposits remained unchanged at $1.35 billion.

By holder, companies held $53.9 billion in foreign currency deposits, up $5.22 billion from the previous month. Deposits held by individuals rose $520 million to $10.75 billion, it said. (Yonhap)