S. Korea's overseas financial assets hit new high in Q1

SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's overseas financial assets touched a new high in the first quarter, mainly due to increased stock investments, central bank data showed Friday.

The nation's external financial assets came to US$1.98 trillion at the end of December last year, up $28.3 billion from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The net international investment position came to $478.7 billion as of the end of March, up $12.6 billion 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 $1.5 trillion as of end-March, up $12.9 billion more than a year earlier.

Short-term foreign debt, which matures within one year, rose by $6.3 billion over the cited period, with long-term debt growing by $14.6 billion.

South Korea's short-term external debt accounted for 29.3 percent of its outstanding external liabilities.

The ratio of short-term foreign debt to foreign reserves stood at 37.1 percent at the end of March, up 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier.

kdh@yna.co.kr
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