Money Destination
The Bank of Korea announced on May 7 that Korea recorded a reserve-excluded overseas investment balance of US$716.6 billion last year, and the amount increased by US$95.5 billion from a year earlier.
The United States accounted for 24.2 percent (US$173.6 billion) of it, followed by China (18.5 percent, US$132.4 billion), the E.U. (17.7 percent, US$127.2 billion), Southeast Asia (14.8 percent, US$106.2 billion), Latin America (7.4 percent, US$52.9 billion), Japan (3.2 percent, US$22.9 billion), and the Middle East (2.3 percent, US$16.4 billion).
The growth in the investment in the U.S., the E.U., and Japan was led by securities investment, the respective amounts of which went up by US$32.5 billion, US$13.4 billion, and US$1.7 billion. Meanwhile, direct investment in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East increased by US$9.1 billion, US$5 billion, and US$3 billion, respectively. For China, the other types of investment increased by US$23.7 billion.
“The investment in China exceeded that in Southeast Asia in 2013 and that in the E.U. region last year,” the central bank explained, adding, “The amount, which had stood at around US$64.1 billion at the end of 2010, is increasing at a rapid pace.”
Direct investment took up 52.5 percent of the total investment in China, while other types of investment, including deposits, loans, and trade credit accounted for 39.2 percent. US$83.6 billion of the investment in the United States took the form of securities investment, whereas US$16.7 billion of that in the E.U. was derivatives investment.
Also, direct investment accounted for 42.4 percent and 38.4 percent of the investment in Southeast Asia and Latin America, and securities investment represented 48.2 percent, 40.9 percent, and 40.6 percent of those in the U.S., Japan, and the E.U. The other types of investment took up 67.9 percent for the Middle East. Of the total investment balance, 50.3 percent was based on the U.S. dollar, followed by the yuan (US$98.6 billion) and the euro (US$58.1 billion).