S. Korea's current account swings to surplus in Sept. but much smaller than year before

SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea posted a current account surplus in September, swinging from the previous month's shortfall, but it was much smaller than a year earlier as import bills remained high and outbound travel grew due to eased pandemic-related curbs, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The country's current account surplus came to US$1.61 billion in September, compared with a deficit of a revised $3.05 billion a month earlier, which marked the first shortfall since April, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

September's surplus, however was much smaller than a year earlier when the corresponding figure stood at $10.51 billion.

During the January-September period, the country logged a cumulative current account surplus of $24.14 billion, sharply down from a surplus of $67.41 billion tallied a year earlier, the data showed.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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