Foreign currency deposits fall in October for the first time in five months

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Foreign currency deposits fall in October for the first time in five months

Published: 17 Nov. 2024, 17:18

An official checks banknotes at a bank branch of Hana Bank in central Seoul on Friday. [NEWS1]

Foreign currency deposits fell for the first time in five months in October on sagging corporate demand for U.S. dollar-denominated deposits and increasing import settlements amid a weak Korean currency, central bank data showed Sunday.

Residents' outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits reached $98.97 billion as of the end of October, down $5.1 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The figure had climbed from June through September after a four-month losing streak.

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

By currency, dollar-denominated deposits dropped by $3.1 billion to $82.74 billion, and Japanese yen-denominated deposits fell by $540 million to $9.8 billion last month.

Euro-denominated deposits went down $800 million to $4.18 billion, and Chinese yuan-denominated deposits decreased by $600 million to $1.19 billion.

Corporate deposits shed $4.47 billion to $84.28 billion as of end-October, and individual holdings slid $630 million to $14.69 billion, the data showed.

The Korean currency had weakened markedly against the greenback from 1,319.6 won (95 cents) in September to 1,383.3 won as of end-October, according to the BOK.

Yonhap