South Korea’s foreign currency deposit hit a record high last month as companies placed more U.S. dollar funds in bank accounts, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Deposit, denominated in foreign currencies, came in at 110.98 billion U.S. dollars at the end of December, up 3.59 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It has marked the highest since relevant data began to be compiled in 2012, keeping a record-breaking trend for the second successive month. The foreign currency deposit continued to grow for four months in a row.
Local companies sought to secure more dollar funds amid rising uncertainty over the global economy.
The deposit, denominated in the U.S. dollar, gained 1.86 billion dollars from a month earlier to 95.38 billion dollars at the end of December, and the Japanese yen deposit grew 0.53 billion dollars to 6.61 billion dollars.
The euro deposit increased 0.99 billion dollars to 5.50 billion dollars, and the Chinese yuan deposit climbed to 1.78 billion dollars.
Foreign currency deposit, owned by companies, rose 3.28 billion dollars to 96.10 billion dollars, and the individuals-possessed deposit added 0.31 billion dollars to 14.88 billion dollars.
