November Resident Foreign Currency Deposits Reach $107.39 Billion 'Record High'...Dollar Strengthens

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] Last month, residents' foreign currency deposits surged by nearly $10 billion to reach $107.39 billion, marking an all-time high. This is the highest level since June 2012 and represents a three-month consecutive increase.

According to the November residents' foreign currency deposit trends released by the Bank of Korea on the 21st, the balance of residents' foreign currency deposits at foreign exchange banks stood at $107.39 billion at the end of last month, up $9.74 billion from the end of the previous month. This is the largest increase since October 2017 ($9.62 billion).

Residents' 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 in Korea.

By category, corporate deposits amounted to $92.82 billion, increasing by $9.44 billion in one month.

Individual deposits also rose by $300 million to $14.57 billion.

By currency, US dollar deposits reached $93.52 billion, up $8.72 billion in one month, setting a record high. Yen deposits increased by $370 million to $6.08 billion, and euro deposits rose by $400 million to $4.51 billion.

The Bank of Korea explained, "The sharp increase in dollar deposits was due to corporate export-import settlement deposits and demand for securing foreign currency liquidity," adding, "Euro deposits slightly increased due to margin recovery related to overseas derivative transactions by some securities firms and net spot foreign exchange purchases by companies."

By bank type, domestic banks held $97.97 billion, up $9.38 billion, while foreign bank branches held $9.42 billion, increasing by $360 million.

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