Balance of Payments Trends during October 2009
(preliminary)
November 2009
Economic Statistics Department
The Bank of Korea
The current account in October 2009 recorded a surplus of 4.94
□
billion dollars, an increase from the previous month's 4.03 billion dollars, as the goods account surplus widened and the services account deficit narrowed.
The goods account surplus amounted to 5.72 billion dollars,
―
up from 5.28 billion dollars a month earlier due to an increase in exports including the delivery of ships.
The services account deficit stood at 1.13 billion dollars, a
―
decrease from the previous month's 1.63 billion dollars, as the travel account and the other services account deficit shrank.
The income account registered a surplus of 0.54 billion dollars
―
similar to the previous month's 0.55 billion dollars.
The current transfers account deficit widened slightly to 0.19
―
billion dollars from 0.16 billion dollars a month earlier.
< The current account registered a surplus of 37.0 billion dollars during January ~ October period. >
Current Account Trends
□ The capital and financial account registered a net inflow of 1.54 billion dollars in October 2009, down from the previous month's 7.20 billion dollars.
― Direct investment recorded a net outflow of 0.28 billion dollars, an increase over the previous month's 0.23 billion dollars, since the net outflow of outward foreign direct investment was larger than the net inflow of foreign direct investment.
― Portfolio investment showed a net inflow of 6.13 billion dollars, down from the previous month's 7.91 billion dollars, as foreigners' investment in equities issued in Korea decreased significantly, failing to offset an increase in their investment in Korean bonds.
― The financial derivatives account marked a net outflow of 0.57 billion dollars, up from the previous month's 0.30 billion dollars as receipts related to financial derivatives transactions decreased.
― The other investment account registered a net outflow of 3.74 billion dollars, an increase over the previous month's net outflow of 0.06 billion dollars as financial institutions' loans increased.
< The capital and financial account recorded a net inflow of 24.94 billion dollars for the first ten months of the year. >
□ Reserve assets increased by 7.97 billion dollars in October 2009.
< Reserve assets increased by 60.41 billion dollars during the first ten months of the year. >
Balance of Payments Summary Table
1)2)(In 0.1 billion U.S. dollars, %)
2008p 2009p
October Jan~Oct Septemberr October Jan Oct～ . Current account
Ⅰ 47.5 -91.7 40.3 49.4 370.0
<34.6> <35.0> <34.3>
1. Goods 26.3 36.5 52.8 57.2 464.3
Exports(FOB) 379.8 3,763.2 349.3 358.9 3,025.6
(3.1) (21.7) (-8.5) (-5.5) (-19.6)
(customs clearance) 371.1 3,660.5 340.7 339.6 2,940.4
(7.8) (20.9) (-9.0) (-8.5) (-19.7)
Imports(FOB) 353.5 3,726.6 296.5 301.7 2,561.3
(8.8) (31.0) (-24.1) (-14.7) (-31.3)
(customs clearance) 361.0 3,798.5 297.5 303.3 2,602.7
(10.3) (31.4) (-24.7) (-16.0) (-31.5)
2. Services -0.5 -150.9 -16.3 -11.3 -123.5
Credit 67.8 641.7 48.4 48.6 475.9
Debit 68.4 792.6 64.7 59.8 599.4
3. Income 14.1 38.1 5.5 5.4 31.7
Credit 22.1 194.4 12.0 13.0 125.1
Debit 7.9 156.3 6.5 7.6 93.4
4. Current transfers 7.7 -15.5 -1.6 -1.9 -2.6
Credit 17.5 109.7 10.6 9.5 105.0
Debit 9.7 125.2 12.3 11.4 107.5
. Capital & financial
Ⅱ account -248.3 -339.6 72.0 15.4 249.4
1. Direct investment -2.0 -101.9 -2.3 -2.8 -29.2
2. Portfolio investment 51.7 -112.2 79.1 61.3 463.2
3. Derivatives -39.1 -92.6 -3.0 -5.7 -73.8
4. Other investment -262.5 -29.6 -0.6 -37.4 -122.9
5. Capital transfers and acquisition of
non-financial assets 3.5 -3.4 -1.1 0.1 12.1
. Changes in reserve
Ⅲ assets3) 199.9 424.4 -112.2 -79.7 -604.1
. Errors & omissions
Ⅳ 0.9 7.0 -0.2 14.8 -15.3
Notes : 1) Figures in ( ) represent year-on-year changes.
2) Figures in < > represent seasonally-adjusted figures.
3) Negative figures represent increases in reserve assets.
