Korea posts current account deficit for 2nd straight month in February

Containers are stored at a port in Busan on March 21. [YONHAP]

Korea posted a current account deficit for the second straight month in February as exports remained sluggish amid global recession woes, central bank data showed Friday.

The country's current account shortfall came to $520 million in February, following a record deficit of $4.21 billion a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.

It also swung from a surplus of $5.87 billion a year earlier.

February's deficit came as the goods balance worsened due to slumping exports and rising imports.

Exports shrank 6.3 percent on year in February, caused by weak demand for semiconductors, which plunged 41.5 percent on a customs-cleared basis.

Exports to China and Southeast Asian countries dropped 24.3 percent and 25 percent, respectively, over the same period.

Imports, meanwhile, rose 4.6 percent.

Reflecting the data, the country posted a goods account deficit of $1.3 billion in February, the fifth straight shortfall, the data showed.

Korea also posted a service account shortfall of $2.03 billion in February, the 10th straight month of a shortfall, the data showed. The deficit is partly blamed on increased overseas travel bolstered by eased virus curbs.

The primary income account, which tracks wages of foreign workers and dividend payments overseas, logged a surplus of $3.12 billion in February, the data showed.

Yonhap