Korea posts current account surplus for 3rd month in July

Containers are stacked up at a port in Busan on Aug. 1. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Korea’s current account balance registered a $3.58 billion surplus in July, staying in the positive territory for a third consecutive month on a rise in trade surplus, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea on Friday.

The July surplus was down from $5.87 billion in June due to a plunge in primary income but was up from $1.70 billion in surplus in the same month a year earlier.

Goods account logged a surplus of $4.28 billion, up from $3.98 billion in June. Despite an on-month decline in exports, imports fell further down in the same period.

The deficit in the services sector narrowed to $2.53 billion from a loss of $2.61 billion in June, despite an expanded deficit in accounts for travel and manufacturing services. A surplus in transport grew while the deficit in the use of intellectual property narrowed.

The primary income account, which measures the wages of foreign workers and dividend payments from overseas, plunged to $2.92 billion in July from $4.85 billion a month earlier due to a decrease in investment income.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]