S. Koreans' overseas card spending up 15.9 pct in Q3

SEOUL, Nov. 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korean residents' overseas credit card spending
gained 15.9 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier as the
economic recovery and the local currency's ascent prompted more people to go
overseas, the central bank said Thursday.
Combined overseas credit card bills reached US$1.49 billion in the July-September
period, compared with $1.28 billion the previous quarter, according to the Bank
of Korea (BOK).
"As the growth of the Korean economy picked up in the third quarter and the won
rose against the U.S. dollar, the number of people traveling overseas increased,"
the BOK said in a statement.
Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 2.9 percent in the third quarter from three
months earlier, the fastest quarterly expansion in more than seven years, on
improving domestic demand and robust exports.
The Korean currency gained an average of 3.85 percent to the greenback in the
third quarter from the previous quarter.
The number of overseas credit card users rose 9.7 percent on-quarter to 2.24
million last quarter, while each South Korean spent an average of $665 in credit
overseas, up 5.7 percent from three months earlier, the central bank said.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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