Foreign Currency Deposits Decrease by $2.1 Billion in August... Individuals 'Selling Dollars' Amid Rising Exchange Rates

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Due to the strength of the US dollar, residents' foreign currency deposits decreased by more than 2.1 billion dollars last month, driven by individual sell-offs and corporate withdrawals for import payment settlements.

According to the resident foreign currency deposit trends announced by the Bank of Korea on the 20th, as of the end of last month, the balance of resident foreign currency deposits at foreign exchange banks stood at 88.27 billion dollars, down 2.11 billion dollars from the end of the previous month.

Resident foreign currency deposits had increased by more than 2.1 billion dollars in July compared to the previous month but turned to a declining trend again this month.

Resident foreign currency deposits refer to domestic foreign currency deposits held by nationals, domestic companies, foreigners residing in Korea for more than six months, and foreign companies operating domestically.

By currency, dollar deposits decreased by 1.57 billion dollars due to foreign direct investment fund withdrawals and corporate import payment withdrawals. Euro deposits fell by 460 million dollars due to margin payments related to overseas derivative transactions by some securities firms and spot foreign exchange sales.

Domestic banks held 79.13 billion dollars, down 2.46 billion dollars, while foreign bank branches held 9.14 billion dollars, up 350 million dollars.

By entity, corporate deposits were 74.41 billion dollars, down 1.49 billion dollars, and individual deposits were 13.86 billion dollars, down 620 million dollars. Individual deposits have been continuously decreasing as individuals tend to sell dollars amid the rising exchange rate period.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.