South Korea Posts $1.52 Billion Surplus In Dec

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South Korea saw a current account surplus of $1.52 billion in December, the Bank of Korea said on Wednesday. That was below analyst expectations for a $2.23 billion surplus following the $4.277 billion surplus in November.

Seasonally adjusted, the current account surplus came in at $3.50 billion.

The capital and financial account in December saw a net inflow of 1.64 billion dollars, almost the same as the previous month's 1.54 billion dollars. Reserve assets shifted from the previous year's net decrease of 56.45 billion dollars to a net increase of 69.06 billion dollars.

For all of 2009, South Korea saw a record current account surplus of $42.67 billion - an increase from the previous year's 5.78 billion dollars deficit, as the goods account surplus widened substantially.

The capital and financial account shifted in 2009 from the previous year's net outflow of 50.08 billion dollars to a net inflow of 26.45 billion dollars.

The goods account surplus was 56.13 billion dollars, up from 5.67 billion dollars a year earlier, as the scale of the decrease of imports exceeded than that of exports.

The services account deficit registered a deficit of 17.2 billion dollars, similar to the previous year's 16.67 billion dollars, as the transportation account surplus narrowed and the other services account deficit widened while that on the travel account narrowed.

The income account surplus fell slightly to 4.55 billion dollars from the previous month's 5.9 billion dollars, led downward by worsening interest receipts.

The current transfers account registered a deficit of 0.81 billion dollars similar to the previous year's 0.67 billion dollars.

Direct investment registered a net outflow of 9.07 billion dollars, down from the previous year's 15.63 billion dollars, since the net outflow of outward foreign direct investment decreased more than the year before.

Portfolio investment shifted from a net outflow of 2.41 billion dollars to a net inflow of 50.68 billion dollars, as foreign investors' domestic securities investment shifted from a net outflow to a net inflow.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)