S.Korea posts current account surplus for 31 months

South Korea posted a current account surplus for 31 months in a row due to robust export growth, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Current account surplus was 7.62 billion U.S. dollars in September, up from a 7.2 billion-dollar surplus in August, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the 31st consecutive month of surplus.

For the first nine months of this year, the surplus reached 61. 86 billion dollars, up from 55.04 billion dollars tallied in the same period last year.

The BOK had expected the current account surplus to reach 84 billion dollars in the whole year of 2014, topping the previous record high of 79.9 billion dollars tallied in 2013.

Brisk exports led the September surplus. Exports, which account for about half of the economy, grew 4.2 percent from a month earlier to 50.98 billion dollars in September.

On a customs basis, outbound shipments of steel products and ships surged more than 20 percent, leading the export growth. Machinery exports expanded 15.8 percent, but those for consumer electronics and oil products fell 17.6 percent and 3.3 percent each.

Imports increased 4.1 percent to 43.25 billion dollars in the cited period, sending the September trade surplus to 7.73 billion dollars. It was up from a 7.37 billion-dollar surplus in August.

Consumer goods imports rose 23.4 percent, with imports of foreign luxury cars and grain jumping more than 30 percent. Imports of mineral and crude oil declined 11.8 percent and 0.3 percent each.

Despite the solid monthly performance in exports, the third- quarter exports under the GDP data standard slid 2.6 percent compared with the prior quarter, marking the biggest decline since a 4.3 percent fall tallied in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The GDP-based exports worsened as processing and transit trades declined due to an increase in overseas direct investment, such as building factories, by local companies. Those investments generate overseas dividend income, not increasing exports.

The service account balance, which measures the flow of travel, transport costs and royalties, posted a deficit of 280 million dollars in September, down from a 730 million-dollar deficit in August.

Travel income reached an all-time high of 1.77 billion dollars in September amid growing visits of Chinese tourists to South Korea. The record income helped reduce the deficit in travel account from 770 million dollars in August to 210 million dollars in September.

Surplus in primary income account, which includes monthly salaries and investment income, slid to 610 million dollars in September from 1.05 billion dollars a month earlier.

Financial account, which gauges cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, logged an outflow of 8. 76 billion dollars in September, up from a 7.8 billion-dollar outflow in August.

Direct investment registered an outflow of 2.15 billion dollars in September, up from a 750 million-dollar outflow in August.

Portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond transactions, shifted into an outflow of 3.52 billion dollars in September from an inflow of 500 million dollars in August due to foreign sales of local stocks.

Other investment account, including trade credit and foreign debts, posted an outflow of 1.88 billion dollars last month, down from a 7.29 billion-dollar outflow in August due to a rise in overseas deposits and an increase in repayment of foreign debts.