SEOUL (XINHUA) – South Korea’s foreign debt fell for the second consecutive quarter owing to lower long-term liability that offset higher short-term debt, central bank data showed yesterday.
Foreign debt declined by USD9.2 billion to USD658.3 billion in the April-June quarter after reducing USD5 billion in the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Short-term foreign debt with maturity of less than one year added USD0.9 billion to USD142 billion in the second quarter, but long-term external liability decreased USD10.1 billion to USD516.3 billion.
The ratio of short-term foreign debt to the total external liability increased 0.4 percentage points from three months earlier to 21.6 per cent at the end of June.
The ratio of short-term foreign debt to foreign reserves advanced 0.8 percentage points to 34.4 per cent.
