SEOUL, May 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign currency deposit fell for the third straight month in April on an expanded use of the U.S. dollar funds, central bank data showed Monday.
The deposit, denominated in foreign currencies, dipped 0.68 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier to 96.26 billion dollars at the end of April, after slipping 4.91 billion dollars in February and 1.59 billion dollars in March, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The consecutive reduction was attributed to an increased use of the greenback to purchase raw materials and repay foreign debts.
The deposit, denominated in the U.S. dollar, declined 2.08 billion dollars from a month earlier to 81.01 billion dollars at the end of April.
The Japanese yen deposit was unchanged at 7.87 billion dollars, but the euro and the Chinese yuan deposits gained to 5.08 billion dollars and 1.17 billion dollars each.
Foreign currency deposit, owned by companies, shrank 0.98 billion dollars to 82.41 billion dollars in the cited month, while the individuals-possessed deposit climbed 0.30 billion dollars to 13.85 billion dollars. ■
