According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) South Korea extended its current account surplus to 30 months in a row in August but by a smaller margin than the previous month, central bank data showed Monday.

The current account surplus reached US$7.27 billion last month, compared with a revised $7.84 billion in July, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.

With the August data, the country's current account surplus during the January-August period totaled $54.31 billion, roughly 65 percent of the central bank's $84 billion forecast for the year.

The balance of goods came in at $7.44 billion in August, widening from a $6.79 billion surplus the previous month.

Exports reached $49.01 billion, down from $53.81 billion the previous month. Imports fell at a faster pace, coming in at $41.56 billion, compared with $47.02 billion.

The service account, which includes outlays by South Koreans on overseas trips, logged a deficit for the 10th consecutive month. The deficit came in at $732.6 million, widening from the one in July of $7.4 million.

The primary income account, which tracks wages of foreign workers and dividend payments overseas, slipped to $1.05 billion from $1.49 billion a month earlier due mainly to a fall in interest profit, according to the data.

mil@yna.co.kr

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