S. Korea logs current account surplus in June

SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) — South Korea logged a current account surplus in June due to the continued export growth, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Current account balance, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, recorded a surplus of 12.26 billion U.S. dollars in June, higher than a surplus of 8.92 billion dollars in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the largest in six years and nine months since September 2017.
For the first six months of this year, the current account surplus stood at 37.73 billion dollars, sharply up compared to a surplus of 1.15 billion dollars in the six-month period of last year.
Trade surplus for goods came to 11.47 billion dollars in June, up from 8.75 billion dollars in May. The trade balance stayed in black for the 15th consecutive month since April last year.
Export gained 8.7 percent from a year earlier to 58.82 billion dollars in June, while import decreased 5.7 percent to 47.35 billion dollars.
The outbound shipment kept an upward trend for the ninth straight month on the back of solid demand for locally-made semiconductors, mobile devices, oil products, and automobiles.
Service account deficit amounted to 1.62 billion dollars in June, up from a deficit of 1.29 billion dollars in May.
Primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, registered a surplus of 2.69 billion dollars on higher dividend income from overseas.
Dividend income account posted a surplus of 2.34 billion dollars in June, up from a surplus of 1.13 billion dollars in the prior month.
Financial account, which measures cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, recorded a net outflow of 12.24 billion dollars in the cited month.
Overseas direct investment by domestic residents climbed by 4.89 billion dollars, while foreign direct investment in South Korea reduced by 370 million dollars.
For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond trading, overseas investment by local residents soared by 6.63 billion dollars, while foreign investment in local stocks and bonds declined by 2.39 billion dollars. ■