Korean investments in overseas securities fell by the most since the global financial crisis in the third quarter as the eurozone debt crisis hit share prices, the central bank said Tuesday.
Institutional investors' investments in foreign stocks, bonds and so-called Korean Paper reached an outstanding $57.8 billion as of the end of September, down $11.14 billion from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The third-quarter data marked the largest fall since a $18.06 billion decline in the fourth quarter of 2008 when the country was in the midst of global financial turmoil.
Korean Paper refers to foreign-currency-denominated securities issued by the South Korean government, financial institutions or companies based abroad.
The central bank said that the eurozone debt crisis pummeled share prices in overseas countries, driving down the value of shareholding held by local institutional investors.
Investments in foreign stocks declined $10.46 billion on-quarter to $27.1 billion as of end-September and those in overseas bonds fell $460 million to $14.12 billion, the BOK said. (Yonhap)