South Korea Oct seasonally adjusted current account steps up vs Sept

[SEOUL] South Korea's current account surplus rose to a seasonally adjusted US$7.32 billion in October from a revised US$4.99 billion surplus in September as imports fell, central bank data showed on Thursday.

Although it rebounded from a 10-month low posted in September, October's surplus was smaller than a US$7.51 billion surplus posted in August.

Exports fell 1.4 per cent from September to US$49.40 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis, while imports dropped 5.0 per cent to US$41.90 billion, which was the smallest amount for imports since February 2011, the data showed.

This produced a goods surplus of US$7.50 billion in October.

South Korea has posted a current account surplus every month since early 2009.

Without adjustment for seasonal patterns, the current account surplus in October was US$9.01 billion, up from US$7.41 billion in September, the data showed, and reached the highest surplus since May.

In the financial account, South Korea saw a net outflow of US$6.80 billion in October, compared to a net outflow of US$8.76 billion in the previous month.

REUTERS