S. Korea's external debt down in Q3: BOK data
A clerk sorts $100 banknotes at the headquarters of Hana Bank in Seoul, Nov. 3. Yonhap
Korea's external debt decreased in the third quarter of this year amid a fall in debt investment by foreign investors, central bank data showed Wednesday.
The country's external liabilities had come to $649.3 billion as of end-September, compared with $665.1 billion tallied three months earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.
The data showed that a rise in long-term external borrowing by the government offset a sharp decline in short-term debt.
Of the total, the country's short-term debt that matures in a year declined by $20.3 billion on-quarter to $141.6 billion, while long-term debt rose $4.6 billion over the same period to $507.7 billion, the data showed.
The ratio of short-term debt to foreign reserves fell by 4.2 percentage points to 34.2 percent. A lower ratio means a stronger debt-serving capability.
The ratio of short-term debt to total external liabilities also declined 2.5 percentage points on-quarter to 21.8 percent, the data showed. (Yonhap)