ZCZC
BCN-36
S.KOREA-FOREIGN-DEBT
S.Korea’s short-term foreign debts rise to highest in over 3 years
SEOUL, Nov. 22, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – South Korea’s ratio of short-term
foreign debts to foreign currency reserves rose to the highest in more than
three years in the third quarter, central bank data showed Thursday.
The ratio of foreign debts, which mature in less than a year, to foreign
currency reserves stood at 31.8 percent as of the end of September, up 0.5
percentage points from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea
(BOK).
It was the highest since the second quarter of 2015, continuing to advance
since the end of last year.
The portion of short-term external debts to the total foreign liabilities
added 0.1 percentage point over the quarter to 28.5 percent in the third
quarter.
Net external credit, which deducts foreign debts from external credit, came
in at 462.2 billion U.S. dollars as of end-September, up 7.2 billion dollars
from three months earlier.
It was the highest ever recorded by the economy as external credit gained
16.2 billion dollars from three months earlier to 911.7 billion dollars at
the end of September.
Foreign debts totaled 449.5 billion dollars as of end-September, up 9
billion dollars from three months ago.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1428