South Korea’s Foreign Currency Deposits Decline in February

South Korea’s foreign currency deposits fell last month due to a decline in U.S. dollar deposits owned by companies, according to central bank data released Monday. The total deposits denominated in foreign currencies dipped by 4.91 billion U.S. dollars from the previous month, reaching 98.53 billion dollars at the end of February, after two consecutive months of growth. The downturn was attributed to companies selling the greenback amid a strong U.S. dollar trend. The won/dollar exchange rate stood at 1,463.4 won per dollar at the end of February, up 10.7 won from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.

Deposits denominated in U.S. dollars saw a significant decline of 3.79 billion dollars from the previous month, totaling 84.52 billion dollars at the end of February. Other foreign currency deposits also fell, with Japanese yen deposits decreasing to 7.76 billion dollars, euro deposits dropping to 4.16 billion dollars, and Chinese yuan deposits shrinking to 950 million dollars.

Foreign currency deposits held by companies experienced a sharp drop of 4.58 billion dollars, settling at 84.62 billion dollars for the month. Meanwhile, deposits owned by individuals also declined, albeit at a smaller scale, decreasing by 0.33 billion dollars to 13.91 billion dollars.