S Korea logs current account surplus for 7th month in Nov

SEOUL / WAM

The Republic of Korea logged a current account surplus for the seventh straight month in November on the back of an increased trade surplus, Yonhap News Agency quoted the Bank of Korea (BOK) as saying.
The country’s current account surplus reached $4.06 billion in November, narrowing from the surplus of $6.8 billion the previous month, according to preliminary data from BOK.
November’s surplus came as the country’s trade balance has remained in the black for eight consecutive months.
The country’s goods account racked up a $7.01 billion surplus in November, following a $5.35 billion surplus the previous month.
The nation’s outbound shipments rose 7.7 percent on-year in November to $55.78 billion, while imports dropped 11.6 percent over the cited period to $52 billion, according to the central bank’s data.
The primary income account, which tracks the wages of foreign workers, dividend payments from overseas and interest income, reported a loss of $1.5 million in November, following a $2.77 billion surplus in October, the data showed.
The services account deficit also widened to $2.13 billion in November from a loss of $1.25 billion the previous month, the data showed.
In the first 11 months of the year, the country reported a current account surplus of $27.43 billion, compared with a surplus of $27.15 billion during the same period last year.