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South Korea’s foreign debt grew in the second quarter as foreigners bought local state bonds, the finance ministry said last Thursday.
The country’s foreign debt amounted to 503,1 billion US dollars as of the end of June, up 17,2 billion dollars from three months earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The short-term external liability, which matures in less than a year, gained 5,7 billion dollars to 154,3 billion dollars in the cited period as the dollar fund was supplied through the currency swap deal between central banks of South Korea and the United States.
The long-term foreign debt with a maturity of at least one year expanded 11,5 billion dollars to 348,8 billion dollars as foreign investors raised investment in domestic government and public bonds. Despite the debt increase, the foreign liability soundness remains solid. The ratio of short-term foreign debt to the total external liability stood at 30,7 percent as of end-June, up 0,1 percentage point from three months earlier.
It was much lower than 51,7 percent tallied at the end of September in 2008 when the global financial crisis roiled the financial market. — Bloomberg.
Online Reporter