S. Korea's net foreign assets touch new high in Q3

SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's net overseas assets hit an all-time high in the third quarter, mainly due to increased stock investments, central bank data showed Thursday.

The nation's external financial assets came to $1.81 trillion at the end of September, up $66 billion from a quarter earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Net international investment position came to US$553.1 billion as of the end of September, down $100 million from a year earlier, the data showed.

The position refers to the difference between Korea's external financial assets and the domestic assets owned by foreigners. It serves as a measure of a country's external solvency.

South Korea's external debt stood at $461.4 billion as of end-September, $11.6 billion more than a quarter earlier.

Short-term foreign debt, which matures within one year, fell by $10.1 billion over the cited period, with long-term debt growing by $18.1 billion.

South Korea's short-term external debt accounted for 28.2 percent of its outstanding external liabilities.

The ratio of short-term foreign debt to foreign reserves stood at 34.3 percent at the end of September, down 3.3 percentage points from a quarter earlier.

kdh@yna.co.kr
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