Current Account Surplus 
Growing at $6.06 Bln

1st qtr. surplus includes $1.22 bln for March, an increase of $250 mil. from preceding month

The current account surplus registered $1.22 billion in March representing an increase of 250 million from the previous months, thanks to the increased goods account surplus that offset a shift to deficit in the income account owing to seasonal factors such as external dividend payments, the Bank of Korea said recently.
The goods account surplus stood at $3.23 billion, up $1.54 billion from the previous month, since the adjustment of time difference between customs clearance and delivery of shipments served as a factor widening surplus, offsetting decreased surplus derived by the export-import gap.
The service account deficit registered $1.13 billion, up $0.08 billion from the previous month. The income account shifted to a deficit of $0.72 billion from a surplus of $0.46 billion, owing to seasonal factors including external dividend payments by corporations that settled accounts in December. The current transfers account deficit amounted to $0.15 billion, up $0.02 billion from the previous month.
The current account surplus during the January-March period stood at $6.06 billion.
The capital and financial accounts registered a net inflow of $3.54 billion, owing to the withdrawal of external loans extended by domestic deposit money banks. Reserve assets increased by $4.79 billion.
The current account registered $1.22 billion in March, representing an increase of $0.25 billion from the previous month, thanks to the increased goods account surplus that offset a shift to deficit in the income account owing to seasonal factors such as external dividend payments by corporations that settled accounts in December.
The current account registered a surplus of $6.06 billion during the first quarter, against $6.13 billion surplus in the same period last year.
The goods account surplus stood at $3.23 billion, up $1.54 billion from the previous months, since adjustment of time difference between customs clearance and delivery of shipments served as a factor widening surplus, offsetting decreased surplus derived by export-import gap. The goods account registered a surplus of $9.41 billion during the first quarter this year against $8.64 billion during the same period last year.
The service account deficit recorded $1.13 billion, up $0.08 billion from the preceding month. The transport account surplus registered $0.34 billion down $0.08 billion from the previous month, owing to the increased payments of local port service charges.
The travel account deficit stood at $0.62 billion, up $0.03 billion, from the preceding month, owing to the increased payments of overseas education and training expenses.
Other services account deficit amounted to $0.84 billion, down $0.03 billion from the previous month, due to the decreased payments of business services charges related to overseas business activities including corporate publicity and public relations.
The services account registered a deficit of $3.05 billion during the first quarter compared to $1.92 billion in deficit during the same period last year. The income account shifted to a deficit of $0.72 billion from a surplus of $0.46 billion, owing to seasonal factors including external dividend payments by corporations that settled accounts in December. The income account registered a surplus of $0.24 billion during the first quarter of this year compared to $0.21 billion surplus during the same period last year. The current transfer account deficit amounted to $0.15 billion, up $0.02 billion from the previous month. The current transfer account registered a deficit of $0.53 billion during the first quarter this year (a deficit of $0.8 billion during the same period last year.) nw

Park Seung, governor of the Bank of Korea