"Investor Dollar Deposits Decline" Resident Foreign Currency Deposits Fall Again After One Month

Bank of Korea Releases "Trends in Resident Foreign Currency Deposits for September"
Resident Foreign Currency Deposits at $107.09 Billion... Down $550 Million

Resident foreign currency deposits declined again after just one month. This decrease was mainly driven by a reduction in investor deposits at securities firms, overseas investments by pension funds, and corporate payments for current transactions, with US dollar deposits seeing the largest drop.

An employee is organizing US dollars at the Counterfeit Response Center of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to the "Trends in Resident Foreign Currency Deposits for September 2025" released by the Bank of Korea on October 29, the balance of resident foreign currency deposits at foreign exchange banks stood at 107.09 billion US dollars at the end of last month, down 550 million US dollars from the end of the previous month.

Resident foreign currency deposits include deposits held domestically by Korean nationals, domestic companies, foreigners who have resided in Korea for more than six months, and foreign companies operating in Korea. These deposits had declined for three consecutive months starting in February this year, increased in May and June, fell again in July, rose in August, and then decreased once more in September.

By currency, US dollar deposits fell by 240 million US dollars to 90.72 billion US dollars compared to the previous month. A Bank of Korea official explained, "The decrease was due to a reduction in investor deposits at securities firms, overseas investments executed by pension funds, and corporate payments for current transactions." Japanese yen deposits dropped by 150 million US dollars over the same period to 8.89 billion US dollars,mainly due to loan repayments and related factors. Euro deposits also declined,primarily because of corporate payments for current transactions. The balance fell by 120 million US dollars from the previous month to 5.02 billion US dollars. In contrast, Chinese yuan deposits increased by 60 million US dollars to 1.19 billion US dollars.

By depositor, corporate deposits decreased by 700 million US dollars to 92.26 billion US dollars, while individual deposits rose by 150 million US dollars to 14.83 billion US dollars. By bank type, domestic banks saw their deposit balances decrease by 1.28 billion US dollars to 90.74 billion US dollars, but foreign bank branches experienced an increase of 730 million US dollars, bringing their balance to 16.35 billion US dollars.

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