SEOUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's current account surplus grew in February compared to January due to export rebound, central bank data showed Tuesday.
Current account balance, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, recorded a surplus of 7.18 billion U.S. dollars in February, up from 2.94 billion dollars tallied in January, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The current account balance stayed in black for the 22nd straight month since May 2023.
Trade surplus for goods expanded to 8.18 billion dollars in February from 2.50 billion dollars in January on the back of export turnaround.
Export increased 3.6 percent from a year earlier to 53.79 billion dollars in February after reducing 9.1 percent in January, while import gained 1.3 percent to 45.61 billion dollars.
Service account deficit came to 3.21 billion dollars in February, higher than a deficit of 2.06 billion dollars in January.
Primary income account, which includes monthly salary and investment income, registered a surplus of 2.62 billion dollars on dividend income from foreign stock investment.
Financial account, which gauges cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and service, posted a net outflow of 4.96 billion dollars in the cited month.
Overseas direct investment by domestic residents climbed by 4.55 billion dollars, while foreign direct investment in South Korea rose by 910 million dollars.
For the portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond trading, overseas investment by local residents jumped by 13.20 billion dollars, while foreign investment in local stocks and bonds swelled by 2.24 billion dollars. ■
