Foreign currency deposits in S. Korea fall for 1st time in 3 months in July

Seoul, Aug 27 (IANS) Foreign currency deposits in South Korea decreased for the first time in three months in July led by overseas investments by pension funds and corporate payments for transactions, central bank data showed on Wednesday.

Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents stood at $105.15 billion as of end-July, down $1.29 billion from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the first on-month decrease since April, reports Yonhap news agency.

Residents include South Korean citizens, foreigners who have resided in the country for more than six months and foreign companies. The data excludes interbank foreign currency deposits.

Corporate foreign currency deposits also fell by $1.25 billion on-month to $90.42 billion, while individual holdings edged down by $40 million to $14.73 billion.

By currency, dollar-denominated deposits fell by $420 million to $88.72 billion, while Japanese yen-denominated deposits increased $50 million to $8.74 billion.

Euro-denominated deposits went down $140 million to $5.07 billion, and Chinese yuan-denominated deposits sank $890 million to $1.19 billion.

"The decline in dollar deposits was attributable to overseas investment by pension funds, and yuan and euro deposits went down due mainly to payments for transactions by some companies," a BOK official said.

Business sentiment in South Korea rose to a nine-month high this month amid reduced uncertainty following a high-stakes tariff agreement with the United States.

The Composite Business Sentiment Index (CBSI) for all industries stood at 91.0 in August, up 1.4 points from the previous month, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The August figure marked the highest level since November 2024, when the index came to 91.8. It was also the first increase in three months.

The index measures corporate outlooks on overall business conditions, with a reading below 100 indicating that pessimists outnumber optimists.

—IANS

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