Portion of S.Korea's short-term foreign debts rises to highest in a year

The portion of short-term foreign debts in South Korea rose to the highest in a year as banks increased borrowing in foreign currency, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The rate of foreign debts, which mature in less than a year, to the total was 29.8 percent as end-June, the highest since June 2013 when it reached 30 percent, according to the Bank of Korea ( BOK). From three months earlier, the percentage was up 0.7 percentage point.

As of the end of June, the country's total foreign debts came in at 442.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 16.8 billion dollars from three months earlier.

Among the total, the short-term debts were 131.8 billion dollars, up 8 billion dollars from three months ago.

A BOK official said the growth in short-term foreign debts was mainly attributable to a rise in bank borrowing, adding the second- quarter growth was slower than the first-quarter.

The portion of short-term external liabilities to the foreign reserves reached 35.9 percent at the end of June, up 1 percentage point from three months earlier. Also, it was the highest in a year.

Long-term foreign debts with a maturity of more than a year increased 8.9 billion dollars from three months ago to 310.4 billion dollars as of end-June.

External credit, which gauges foreign currency funds to receive, was 647.8 billion dollars as of end-June, up 31.4 billion dollars from three months earlier.

The rise came on the back of a hike in the central bank's reserve assets and an increase in deposit-takers' lending.

Net external credit, or external credit minus foreign debts, stood at 205.6 billion dollars as of the end of June, up 14.5 billion dollars from three months before.