Foreign currency deposits down in January

Foreign currency deposits held by banks in Korea dropped slightly from a month earlier in January, as local businesses took advantage of favorable exchange rates, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The outstanding foreign currency deposits held by banks here came to $74.98 billion as of the end of last month, down $4.4 billion from a month before, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.

It marked the sharpest monthly decline since last March, when deposits fell by $6.5 billion.

The drop came mostly from savings held by businesses, which dipped $4.3 billion in January from a month earlier.

Savings held in dollars dipped $3.3 billion to $64.85 billion by the end of January, and those held in the Chinese yuan fell by $250 million to $1.17 billion.

Yonhap