Foreign currency deposits in South Korea rise most in 8 months

Foreign currency deposits in South Korea rose the most in eight months as local trade companies deposited more funds for settlement purposes, central bank data showed Friday.

Foreign currency deposits among local residents stood at 68.04 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of April, up 5.34 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the largest month increase since August 2014 when the foreign currency deposits advanced 6.15 billion dollars.

Local residents refer to South Koreans, foreigners staying here for more than six months and foreign companies doing business here.

The U.S. dollar-denominated deposits grew 3.43 billion dollars last month as importers deposited the dollar funds for future settlement and exporters deposited the export returns in banks.

The Chinese yuan deposits increased 1.21 billion dollars in April as local branches of Chinese banks rushed to lure customers into extending the maturing yuan deposits.

As of end-April, deposits in the U.S. currency were 41.59 billion dollars, followed by the Chinese currency deposits with 19. 82 billion dollars. The Japanese yen-denominated deposits stood at 2.84 billion dollars, and the European currency deposits were 2.28 billion dollars.