SEOUL– Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea shrank in August partly due to foreigners withdrawing investment and pulling back savings to pay for imports, central bank data showed Tuesday.
Residents’ outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits reached US$88.27 billion as of end-August, down $2.11 billion from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Residents include local citizens, companies, foreigners staying here for more than six months and foreign firms. The data excludes interbank foreign currency deposits.
The decline stemmed in part from foreigners withdrawing dollar-denominated direct investment or businesses pulling back dollar deposits to pay for imports.
Corporate foreign currency savings amounted to $74.41 billion in August, down $1.49 billion from a month earlier. Individuals’ foreign currency savings were also down $620 million to $13.86 billion, the data showed.
Dollar-denominated deposits came to $74.9 billion as of end-August, down $1.57 billion from a month earlier. Euro-denominated deposits also declined $460 million to $4.74 billion, according to the data.
Source: Yonhap News Agency