South Korea's current account widens in September

SEOUL: South Korea's current account surplus widened sharply in September on strong exports, the central Bank of Korea said Friday.

The surplus in the broadest measure of cross-border trade and services jumped more than 10-fold in September to $3.1 billion, up from a revised $292.6 million the previous month.

It was the largest surplus since $3.77 billion in July.

"The goods account surplus expanded sharply on strong exports of cars, steel and oil products," the central bank said in a statement.

South Korea's current-account surplus from January to September now stands at $15.27 billion, bringing it close to the bank's full-year surplus forecast of $15.5 billion this year.

It marked the 19th consecutive month of current account surplus for the fourth-largest economy in Asia after it last ran a current account deficit in February 2010.

But the bank's governor Kim Choong-Soo told a forum on Thursday the current account surplus for next year was likely to miss the bank's estimate of $17 billion because of worsening external conditions.

"Export growth is forecast to slow down on deteriorating external situations next year," Kim said.

The data reinforces market views that South Korea's fundamentals largely remain sound despite recent global turbulence.

The goods' balance posted a surplus of $2.37 billion in September, up from a revised $371.5 million in August, as exports rose 21.1 percent on-year to $47.5 billion and imports jumped 29.7 percent to $45.1 billion.

The service account, which includes outlays by South Koreans on overseas trips, posted a surplus of $70.6 million last month, a turnaround from a shortfall of $577.9 million in August.

September's primary income account, which tracks wages for foreign workers and dividend payments overseas, was at a surplus of $543.0 million compared with a revised $699.6 million surplus in August.

The capital and financial account, which covers cross-border investments, posted a net outflow of $4.68 billion in September compared with a revised net outflow of $1.73 billion in August.