South Korea’s Foreign Currency Deposits Hit Record for Third Consecutive Month

Amid shifts in the global economy, foreign currency deposits held by companies and financial institutions reflect changes in international trade and capital flows. In South Korea, these deposits continued to rise, driven primarily by an increase in U.S. dollar holdings.

Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by residents reached 154.71 billion U.S. dollars at the end of September, up 14.09 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.

The figure marked the highest level since the central bank began compiling the data in June 2012. The record-breaking trend has continued for three consecutive months, having started in July.

U.S. dollar-denominated deposits increased by 12.99 billion dollars to 132.90 billion dollars, setting a new record for the fourth consecutive month. The increase was driven by large corporations receiving trade payments, inflows of investor deposits at securities firms, and funds raised by public enterprises through foreign-currency bond issuance.

Japanese yen deposits rose by 550 million dollars to 9.49 billion dollars, while euro-denominated deposits increased by 370 million dollars to 9.53 billion dollars.

Corporate foreign currency deposits grew by 13.11 billion dollars to 136.60 billion dollars, marking a record high for the third consecutive month. Deposits held by individuals increased by 980 million dollars to 18.11 billion dollars.

According to CCTV+, citing Bank of Korea data, the record increase in South Korea’s foreign currency deposits was driven mainly by higher U.S. dollar inflows from trade transactions, investment activity and foreign-currency bond issuance by public enterprises.