S.Korea's short-term foreign debts rebound on bank borrowing

South Korea's short-term foreign debts rebounded as local banks increased borrowing, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Foreign debts, including short- and long-term ones, reached 425. 4 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of March, up 9.2 billion dollars from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Short-term external liabilities, which mature in less than one year, stood at 123.8 billion dollars as of end-March, up 8.5 billion dollars from three months ago.

The growth was attributed to an increase in the borrowing of foreign debts by local lenders.

The ratio of short-term foreign debts to the total was 29.1 percent of the total at the end of March, up from 27.7 percent three months earlier. It was the highest since June 2013 when it recorded 30 percent.

The ratio of short-term external debts to foreign reserves rose 1.7 percentage points from three months earlier to 34.9 percent as of end-March, the first advance in seven quarters.

Long-term foreign debts with a maturity of more than a year grew 700 million U.S. dollars to 301.6 billion dollars in the cited period.

External credit, which gauges funds South Korean economic agents lent to overseas players, reached 616.5 billion dollars as of end-March, up 14.7 billion dollars from three months earlier.

Net external credit, which means external credit minus external liabilities, increased 5.4 billion dollars from three months earlier to reach 191.1 billion dollars at the end of March.

The increase in short-term foreign debts may be a temporary phenomenon, but it needs to monitor whether the rise would be entrenched, the Finance Ministry said in a separate statement.

The ministry, however, noted that the portion of short-term debts and the country's capability to repay external liabilities remained stable.