[위클리오늘] January’s current account surplus of $70.6 billion thanks to robust exports

[위클리오늘=신민호 기자] In January, Korea’s current account surplus recorded more than $7 billion thanks to the increase in exports, mainly for passenger cars and information and communication devices.

According to the’International Balance for January (provisional)’ announced by the Bank of Korea on the 9th, the scale of Korea’s current account in January recorded a surplus of $7.60 billion, an increase of $6.48 billion from the same month of the previous year.

Looking at the details, first, the size of the product account surplus in January was $5.73 billion, an increase of $3.6 billion compared to the same month last year.

Of these, exports amounted to 46.6 billion dollars, an increase of 9.1% (3.88 billion dollars) from the same month of the previous year, and imports also increased by 0.5% (220 million dollars) to 493 billion dollars during the same period.

The service balance declined from a deficit of $2.89 billion in January of last year to a deficit of $610 million in January of this year by about $2.38 billion.

Among them, the transportation balance changed from a deficit of 110 million dollars in January of last year to a surplus of 1.30 billion dollars in January of this year.

In addition, the deficit of the travel account decreased from a deficit of $1.41 billion to a deficit of $550 million, and processing services also decreased from a deficit of $600 million to a deficit of $490 million over the same period.

In addition, although the amount of intellectual property rights usage fees decreased by $20 million over a year, the construction sector’s surplus decreased from a surplus of 540 million won to a surplus of 290 million won.

In addition, the primary income account surplus was $2.36 billion, an increase of $730 million compared to the same month of the previous year, but the transfer income account was in a deficit of $420 million, an increase of $290 million in the same period. .

Meanwhile, in January, the net assets of financial accounts increased by $5.28 billion.

Of these, foreign direct investment increased by $570 million, and foreign direct investment by Koreans increased by $2.2 billion.

In addition, foreign securities investment in Korea increased by $2.3 billion, and foreign securities investment by Koreans increased by $10.95 billion.