Dollar Deposits
The Bank of Korea announced on Oct. 17 that the foreign currency deposits of residents in South Korea totaled US$66.5 billion as of the end of last month. The amount declined by US$840 million compared to the end of August, showing a decrease for the first time in four months. This type of deposit consists of those of South Korean nationals and foreigners who have resided in South Korea for at least six months along with foreign enterprises’ deposits in the country.
The total value of the U.S. dollar-denominated deposits decreased by US$400 million from the previous month to US$56.52 billion. The U.S. dollar-denominated deposits of enterprises fell by US$1.17 billion to US$46.84 billion, whereas those of individuals increased by US$770 million to US$9.68 billion. The latter rose by no less than US$2.67 billion in the third quarter of this year to reach an all-time high, and the amount is almost double that recorded at the end of July 2015.
The RMB-denominated deposits fell US$300 million month-on-month to add up to US$1.6 billion as a lot of securities firms withdrew their time deposits at maturity. The euro-denominated deposits fell US$40 million to US$3.05 billion, too. On the contrary, the yen-denominated deposits increased US$90 million, led by securities firms.
The total amount is divided into US$55.3 billion (down US$1.69 billion) on the part of enterprises and US$11.2 billion (up US$850 million) on the part of individuals. The latter is an all-time high. The amount deposited in South Korean banks rose US$230 billion to US$57.3 billion while that deposited in foreign banks’ branches in the country fell US$1.07 billion to US$9.2 billion.