S. Korea's current account surplus rises in March

SEOUL, May 9 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's current account surplus rose in March compared with the previous month due to export expansion, central bank data showed Friday.

Current account balance, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, recorded a surplus of 9.14 billion U.S. dollars in March, up from 7.18 billion dollars tallied in February, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The current account balance stayed in the black for the 23rd straight month since May 2023.

Trade surplus for goods rose to 8.49 billion dollars in March from 8.18 billion dollars in the previous month.

Export increased 2.2 percent from a year earlier to 59.31 billion dollars in March, while import grew 2.3 percent to 50.82 billion dollars.

Service account deficit came to 2.21 billion dollars in March, lower than a deficit of 3.21 billion dollars in February.

Primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, registered a surplus of 3.23 billion dollars on dividend income from foreign stock investment.

Financial account, which gauges cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, posted a net outflow of 7.82 billion dollars in the cited month.

Overseas direct investment by domestic residents climbed by 4.75 billion dollars, while foreign direct investment in South Korea added by 760 million dollars.

For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond trading, overseas investment by local residents jumped by 12.13 billion dollars, while foreign investment in local stocks and bonds swelled by 4.50 billion dollars. Enditem