Foreign currency deposits rise for first time in three months

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Foreign currency deposits rise for first time in three months

An employee arranges stacks of bank notes at Hana Bank's Counterfeit Notes Response Center in Jung District, central Seoul, on Jan. 6. [NEWS1]

An employee arranges stacks of bank notes at Hana Bank's Counterfeit Notes Response Center in Jung District, central Seoul, on Jan. 6. [NEWS1]

 
Foreign currency deposits rose for the first time in three months in December as companies boosted dollar holdings amid heightened uncertainty, the central bank said Monday.
 
Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents came to $101.3 billion as of end-December, up $2.87 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
 

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The figure had fallen for the preceding two months due mainly to sagging corporate demand for U.S. dollar-denominated deposits amid the marked weakening of the Korean won.
 
Residents include citizens, foreigners who have stayed in Korea for more than six months and foreign companies. The data excludes interbank foreign currency deposits.
 
December's increase came as companies secured more fund deposits for import settlements, investment and other purposes while navigating uncertainty at home and abroad, the BOK said.
 
Corporate deposits amounted to $87.12 billion as of end-December, up $3.17 billion from the previous month, while individual holdings shrank by $300 million to $14.18 billion.
 
By currency, dollar-denominated deposits rose by $3.8 billion to $86.43 billion, and Euro-denominated deposits grew $230 million to $4.37 billion. Japanese yen-denominated deposits fell $1.19 billion to $8.18 billion.
 
The Korean won fell to 1,434.42 won against the greenback in December from the previous month's 1,393.38 won amid the strong dollar and a political crisis sparked by President Yoon Suk Yeol's shocking declaration of martial law on Dec. 3.

Yonhap
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