South Korea's current account surplus posted 1.18 billion U.S. dollars in February mainly due to brisk exports, the central bank said Tuesday.
The current account surplus reached 1.18 billion dollars in February, up sharply from a revised 0.15 billion dollars the previous month, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a monthly report.
The February reading marked a surplus for the 12th consecutive month since March 2010, helped by strong exports which account for about 50 percent of the South Korean economy.
The current account is the broadest measure of international trade, including goods, services and investment income.
The goods account surplus registered 1.58 billion dollars in February compared with 1.56 billion dollars in January, according to the BOK. Exports rose 19.6 percent on-year to 37.2 billion dollars last month, while imports increased 16.7 percent to 35.6 billion dollars.
The services account deficit narrowed sharply to 0.57 billion dollars in February from 1.64 billion dollars the previous month owing to decreased overseas travel, the BOK said. The travel account deficit fell to 0.51 billion dollars last month from 1.16 billion dollars a month earlier.
The primary income account, including monthly salaries and investment income, reached 0.54 billion dollars in February, narrowing from 0.7 billion dollars the previous month as dividend payments increased, according to the BOK.
The capital and financial account, gauging cross-border investments, recorded a net outflow of 2.26 billion dollars in February, up from January's net outflow of 1.28 billion dollars, the BOK said.
Portfolio investment, including stock and bond investments, shifted to a net outflow of 3 billion dollars last month from a net inflow of 0.9 billion dollars in January as foreigners dumped local stocks, the BOK added.