SEOUL: South Korea posted current account surplus for 42 straight months due to faster slide in imports than exports, bolstering worries about the so-called recession type surplus, central bank data showed here the other day.
Current account surplus was 8.46 billion U.S. dollars in August, down from 9.3 billion dollars a month earlier but up from 7.24 billion dollars a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea ( BOK).
The current account balance stayed in the black for 42 straight months since March 2012, maintaining the longest monthly surplus trend.
The surplus trend came as imports slumped at a faster pace than exports. Both exports and imports reduced this year, boosting concerns about the slowdown of the economy.
Exports tumbled 11.7 percent from a year earlier to 43.18 billion dollars in August, and imports sank 17.7 percent to 34.21 billion dollars. Trade surplus for goods was 8.97 billion dollars last month.
