Travel account deficit hits biggest margin

By Kim Jae-kyoung

Staff Reporter

The nation saw its travel account deficit rise by the widest margin in the first quarter as a growing number of Koreans travelled abroad on the back of the strengthening won and the quick economic rebound.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) reported Monday that the shortfall reached $1.99 billion between January and March, compared to a surplus of $520 million during the same period last year.

It was the largest year-on-year deficit increase since the central bank began compiling relevant data in 1980. The travel account tracks overseas spending by Koreans and domestic consumption by foreign travelers.

Korean travelers spent a total of $4.04 billion in the first quarter, the largest amount in history and up $1.6 billion from a year ago. In contrast, spending by inbound tourists here dropped by $851 million to $2.05 billion.

The central bank said this was mainly due to the won's appreciation against the greenback.

"Over the past few months, more Koreans have been travelling abroad as the local currency gained more ground against the dollar. The won's strengthening enables outbound tourists to buy more goods cheaply abroad by boosting purchasing power," a BOK official said.

"Since the won is on course toward further appreciation in line with a complete economic rebound, chances are that the travel account will be in negative territory for the time being," he added, forecasting that the shortfall will reach $11 billion this year.

The Korean won averaged 1,137.64 won per dollar in March, strengthening 28.5 percent from a year earlier. This was the strongest level since September 2008 when it stood at 1,130.4 won.

According to the Ministry of Justice, a total of 2.98 million Koreans travelled overseas in the first three months of the year, up 31.2 percent from a year ago.

1분기 여행수지 사상 최대폭 확대

1분기 여행수지가 원화가치 상승으로 해외여행이 급증하면서 사상 최대폭으로 나빠졌다.

3일 한국은행에 따르면 올해 1분기 여행수지는 19억9000만달러 적자로 집계됐다. 지난해 같은 기간 5억2000만달러 흑자를 기록했던 것과 비교하면 무려 25억1000만달러나 마이너스를 기록한 것이다.

이러한 여행수지 마이너스 폭은 관련 통계가 집계된 1980년 이래 가장 컸다.

1분기 외국 여행으로 바깥에 지급한 돈이 지난해 같은 기간보다 16억6000만달러 늘어 사상 최대로 증가한 반면, 외국인의 국내여행으로 벌어들인 돈은 오히려 8억5000만달러 줄었기 때문이다.

여행수지가 나빠진 것은 무엇보다 환율 하락의 영향이 크다는 분석이다. 원화는 3월 평균으로 1,137.64원을 기록했고 이는 연초에 비해 28.5 퍼센트 절상된것이다.