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South Korea's current account surplus almost doubled in March from the prior month thanks to robust exports of IT products such as smartphones and semiconductors, central bank data showed on Monday.
South Korea's current account surplus was 4.98 billion U.S. dollars in March after posting a surplus of 2.71 billion dollars in February and 2. 33 billion dollars in January respectively, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
For the first three months of this year, the surplus reached 10. 02 billion dollars, almost quadrupling from the same period of last year.
The widening surplus was attributable to brisk shipments of major export items. Exports increased 1.3 percent from a year earlier to 47.99 billion dollars in March after falling 7.9 percent in the previous month.
Imports reduced 1.5 percent to 43.78 billion dollars in March, sending the trade balance to a surplus of 4.21 billion dollars last month.
Samsung Electronics maintained its position as the world's No. 1 smartphone maker with the global market share of 33.1 percent in the first quarter. LG Electronics rose to the third place in the first quarter from the seventh in the prior quarter, with its market share of 4.9 percent.
The brisk exports came amid growing concerns that the devaluation of the Japanese yen will hurt South Korean exporters, which are fiercely competing with Japanese rivals. Market watchers forecast that the negative impact of the weak yen trend on the South Korean exports may be materialized from the second quarter.
The South Korean won rose 14.4 percent against the Japanese yen in the first quarter, the highest appreciation since the 14.5 percent gain in the second quarter of 2009.
The service account, which measures the flow of travel, transport costs and royalties, registered a surplus of 910 million dollars in March, a turnaround from a deficit of 460 million dollars. The turnaround was attributed to an improvement in transportation and intellectual property rights.
The primary income account, which includes monthly salaries and investment income, posted a deficit of 220 million dollars in March from a surplus of 630 million dollars due to an increase in dividend payments to foreign investors.
Financial account, which gauges cross-border investment, logged an outflow of 6.81 billion dollars in March after registering an outflow of 3.31 billion dollars. For the first three months, the outflow amounted to 11.08 billion dollars.
Net outflow in direct investment widened to 1.87 billion dollars in March from 780 million dollars in the prior month due to a rise in overseas direct investment by local residents.
Portfolio investment, including stock and bond purchases, shifted to a net outflow of 3.39 billion dollars in March from an inflow of 1.99 billion dollars in the previous month after offshore investors sold local stocks amid rising geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula.
Other investment account, including trade credit and foreign debts, recorded an outflow of 150 million dollars last month after posting a 3.22-billion-dollar outflow. Banks turned into net borrowers in terms of foreign debts, reducing the outflow size.
