By Kang Seung-woo
Korea’s current account surplus posted an eight-month high in June due to record exports, the central bank said Thursday.
The surplus for last month stood at $2.99 billion, up $810 million from the previous one, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said. The current account is the broadest measure of trade that reflects the movement of goods and services.
The June figure marked the largest surplus since the $5.11 billion in October last year.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy has expanded its surplus streak to 16 months, dating back to March last year.
The surplus for the first half of 2011 reached $9.06 billion, down $340 million from the BOK’s pre-estimate, but the bank revised up its full-year forecast of the surplus to $15.5 billion on the strength of robust exports in the latter part of this year.
"The July surplus is likely to be similar to the size of the one tallied in June. The full-year surplus is expected to easily meet the BOK’s 2011 target,” Kim Young-bae, director general of the BOK's economic statistics division, said at a press conference.
The all-time monthly high exports of $48.69 billion were attributed to the surplus.
The trade balance, the biggest component of the current account, tallied a $3.66 billion surplus last month, up $1.63 billion from the previous month. Its imports registered $45.04 billion.
“Given Korean products have replaced Japanese goods in some overseas markets, Korea’s exports are expected to maintain their growth momentum in the second half,” he said.
The service account, which includes spending by Koreans on overseas trips, swung back to the red by posting a $632.4 million deficit last month after a $15.5 million in May. In June, the travel account recorded a shortfall of $823.2 million.
Meanwhile, the capital and financial account, covering cross-border investments, logged a net outflow of $4.64 billion in June, compared with a net outflow of a revised $3.96 billion in May, according to the BOK.