According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) South Korea posted a current account surplus for the 32nd straight month in October on a rise in exports and a fall in dividend payments overseas, data showed Thursday.

The current account surplus reached US$9.01 billion last month, compared with a revised $7.41 billion in September, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.

While the October figure is smaller than a year earlier when the current account surplus hit a record monthly high, it marks the highest amount this year since $9.08 billion recorded in May.

The data showed that the balance of goods came in at $8.66 billion in October, up from a $7.41 billion surplus in the previous month.

Exports reached $521.6 million in October, up from $507.5 million the previous month, but slumped 8.2 percent from the previous year.

Imports came in at $435.1 million, up from $432.4 million a month ago, but fell 7.5 percent on-year.

Jung Joon, the BOK's director of the Monetary and Financial Statistics Division, said the on-year fall in exports stems from a fall in intermediary trade as well as adjustments from different compiling standards.

The on-year slump in imports is in line with a fall in global oil prices, Jung added.

The service account, which includes outlays by South Koreans on overseas trips, logged a deficit of $251 million, similar to a $279.1 million deficit in September.

The primary income account, which tracks wages of foreign workers and dividend payments overseas, rose to $988.3 million from $633.8 million on a fall in dividend payments, according to the data.

With the October data, the accumulated current account surplus during the January-October period totaled $70.66 billion. The amount is equivalent to 84 percent of the BOK's record $84 billion annual forecast for the year.

"If the monthly current account surplus reaches 6-7 billion in the remaining period, it is expected to meet the monthly target. (At this trend), there is also a possibility that it will exceed the outlook," Jung said.

mil@yna.co.kr

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