Foreign currency-denominated deposits in South Korea reduced for five straight months on weaker popularity for the Chinese yuan deposits, central bank data showed Thursday.
Outstanding foreign currency deposits by residents, including South Koreans and foreigners staying here for more than six months, came to 59.19 billion U.S. dollars as of end-September, down 0.5 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. It marked the fifth consecutive month of decline since April when the figure recorded 68.04 billion dollars.
The U.S. dollar deposits expanded 0.76 billion dollars from a month earlier to 43.47 billion dollars at the end of September, but deposits denominated in the Chinese yuan declined 1.2 billion dollars to 9.43 billion dollars. After peaking at 21.7 billion dollars as of end-October last year, the yuan deposits turned downward due to lower deposit rates and higher costs to hedge currency risks.
The Japanese yen-denominated deposits rose 0.24 billion dollars from a month earlier in September, but the euro deposits fell 0.02 billion dollars to 2.09 billion dollars.
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