S Korea December current account surplus narrows to $3.96bn

30 January 2012 06:25  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--South Korea’s current account surplus narrowed to a three-month low of $3.96bn (€3.01bn) in December 2011, as imports grew faster than exports, data from the Bank of Korea (BOK) showed on Monday.

Compared to the same period in 2010, however, the surplus more than quadrupled.

Current account is a measure of an economy’s trade in goods and services with the rest of the world.

South Korea’s total exports in December rose by 4.5% month on month to $48.8bn, while imports increased by 5.4% to $45bn, according to the BOK.

On a year-on-year basis, overall exports were up by 14%, while imports’ growth was not far behind at 13.9%, the central bank said.

For the whole year of 2011, the country posted a current account surplus of $27.7bn, down from $29.4bn in 2010, the BOK said.

Exports grew at an annual pace of 20% to $553.7bn, while imports rose 23.8% to $521.6bn, it said.

Imports grew at a stronger pace, backed by sharp increases in the prices of crude oil, gas and coal, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) in an earlier statement.

South Korean exports to emerging markets and Japan increased in 2011, while shipments to the EU, the US and China “were relateively slow”, it said.

“Exports gained momentum, as ships and automobiles turned in a strong performance and Korea sent more general machinery and steel to emerging markets,” the MKE said.

For the whole of 2011, South Korea’s exports of petrochemical products grew by 27.4% year on year to $45.5bn, according to the MKE.

($1 = €0.76)

By: Nurluqman Suratman

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