South Korea achieved a record current account surplus of 6.65 billion dollars in March as imports fell more sharply than exports, the central bank said Wednesday. The figure was the highest since January 1980 when records began and sharply up on a revised 3.56 billion dollar surplus in February, the Bank of Korea said in a report.
South Korea's current account, which measures trade, service and investment flows between the country and the rest of the world, had been in the black between October and December before it swung into deficit in January. The goods balance posted a surplus of 6.98 billion dollars in March compared with a revised 3.11 billion surplus the previous month.
Exports fell 17.8 percent year-on-year to 30.4 billion dollars in March while imports dropped 35.8 percent to 23.4 billion. The shortfall in the service account, which includes South Korean spending on overseas trips, widened to 645.7 million dollars in March compared with a revised 529 million a month earlier.
The income account, which tracks wages for foreign workers and dividend payments overseas, recorded a deficit of 215.7 million in March compared to a revised 484.6 million dollar surplus in February, due to dividends paid by local companies to foreign investors. The capital account, which tracks cross-border investments, posted a net outflow of 2.18 billion dollars last month compared with a net outflow of a revised 2.98 billion a month earlier.