Seoul: Foreign currency deposits in South Korea declined for the third consecutive month in April due mainly to a decrease in corporate deposits used for raw material purchases and foreign loan repayments, the central bank said Monday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents had stood at US$96.26 billion as of end-April, down $680 million from a month earlier, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). This follows a $4.91 billion drop in February and a $1.59 billion decline in March.

Residents include local citizens, foreigners who have stayed in South Korea for more than six months, and foreign companies. The data excludes interbank foreign currency deposits.

Corporate deposits led the fall, dropping $980 million on-month to $82.41 billion, while individual holdings rose $300 million to $13.85 billion. “Companies made payments for raw material purchases and repaid foreign currency loans,” a BOK official explained.

By currency, dollar-denominated deposits declined by $2.08 billion to $81.01 billion, while euro-denominated deposits rose $970 million to $5.08 billion. Japanese yen-denominated deposits remained unchanged at $7.87 billion, the data showed.