ID :
43328
Fri, 01/30/2009 - 18:29
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https://www.oananews.org//node/43328
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S. Korea logs current account deficit of US$6.41 bln in 2008
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea posted its first annual current account shortfall in 11 years in 2008 as soaring oil prices raised import bills, the central bank said Friday.
The current account deficit reached US$6.41 billion last year, a turnaround from
a revised surplus of $5.88 billion a year earlier, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said
in a report. It was the first current account shortfall since 1997 when the
deficit reached $8.3 billion.
In December, however, the country logged a current account surplus of $860.8
million, down from a revised $1.91 billion for November, marking a surplus for
the third straight month.
The current account is the broadest measure of trade, service and investment
flows into and out of a country.
"Although the global economic recession will dent exports, the country is likely
to see a current account surplus if energy prices continue to stabilize," Yang
Jae-ryong, head of the central bank's balance of payments statistics team, told a
press conference.
The BOK said last month the country's current account for this year is expected
to swing into the black at around $22 billion.
"It's a positive sign that capital outflow narrowed in December, and that may
have helped ease downward pressure on the local currency," said Jun Min-kyu, an
economist at Korea Investment & Securities Co. "But given tumbling exports, it
will be difficult for the country to post a large current account surplus this
year."
The cumulative shortfall of the current account, coupled with rising overseas
debt and sell-offs of local stocks by foreign investors, battered the local
currency in 2008. The won fell 25.7 percent against the U.S. dollar last year,
becoming one of the world's worst-performing currencies.
The goods balance posted a surplus of $5.99 billion in 2008, sharply down from a
revised $28.2 billion surplus in 2007 as a jump in oil and other raw material
prices increased imports.
Oil prices have been sliding since they peaked at US$147 per barrel in July.
South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, relies entirely on imports
for its oil needs.
Customs-cleared exports grew 13.6 percent year-on-year to $422 billion last year
and imports rose 22 percent to $435.3 billion.
The shortfall of the service account, which includes South Korean spending on
overseas trips, narrowed to $16.7 billion, compared with a revised $19.8 billion
deficit a year ago as people decreased overseas travel spending on a weaker won.
The capital account, which tracks cross-border investments, posted a net outflow
of $50.9 billion in 2008, compared with a net inflow of $7.13 billion the
previous year. It was the largest capital account net outflow since 1980 when the
BOK began to compile related data.
The income account, which tracks wages for foreign workers and dividend payments
overseas, logged a surplus of $5.11 billion last year, up from $1 billion in
2007.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
The current account deficit reached US$6.41 billion last year, a turnaround from
a revised surplus of $5.88 billion a year earlier, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said
in a report. It was the first current account shortfall since 1997 when the
deficit reached $8.3 billion.
In December, however, the country logged a current account surplus of $860.8
million, down from a revised $1.91 billion for November, marking a surplus for
the third straight month.
The current account is the broadest measure of trade, service and investment
flows into and out of a country.
"Although the global economic recession will dent exports, the country is likely
to see a current account surplus if energy prices continue to stabilize," Yang
Jae-ryong, head of the central bank's balance of payments statistics team, told a
press conference.
The BOK said last month the country's current account for this year is expected
to swing into the black at around $22 billion.
"It's a positive sign that capital outflow narrowed in December, and that may
have helped ease downward pressure on the local currency," said Jun Min-kyu, an
economist at Korea Investment & Securities Co. "But given tumbling exports, it
will be difficult for the country to post a large current account surplus this
year."
The cumulative shortfall of the current account, coupled with rising overseas
debt and sell-offs of local stocks by foreign investors, battered the local
currency in 2008. The won fell 25.7 percent against the U.S. dollar last year,
becoming one of the world's worst-performing currencies.
The goods balance posted a surplus of $5.99 billion in 2008, sharply down from a
revised $28.2 billion surplus in 2007 as a jump in oil and other raw material
prices increased imports.
Oil prices have been sliding since they peaked at US$147 per barrel in July.
South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, relies entirely on imports
for its oil needs.
Customs-cleared exports grew 13.6 percent year-on-year to $422 billion last year
and imports rose 22 percent to $435.3 billion.
The shortfall of the service account, which includes South Korean spending on
overseas trips, narrowed to $16.7 billion, compared with a revised $19.8 billion
deficit a year ago as people decreased overseas travel spending on a weaker won.
The capital account, which tracks cross-border investments, posted a net outflow
of $50.9 billion in 2008, compared with a net inflow of $7.13 billion the
previous year. It was the largest capital account net outflow since 1980 when the
BOK began to compile related data.
The income account, which tracks wages for foreign workers and dividend payments
overseas, logged a surplus of $5.11 billion last year, up from $1 billion in
2007.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
