SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign currency deposit fell last month on corporate overseas investment and individuals' sale of the U.S. dollar fund amid the strong dollar trend, central bank data showed Monday.
Foreign currency deposit came in at 93.17 billion U.S. dollars at the end of January, down 4.1 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It kept a downward trend for the second straight month as companies withdrew foreign currencies to pay for import while increasing overseas investment.
Individuals sold the dollar fund amid the dollar's ascent to the local currency. The won/dollar exchange rate averaged 1,195.3 won per dollar in January, up 11.5 won from the previous month.
Foreign currency deposit, owned by companies, went down 2.86 billion dollars from a month earlier to 75.64 billion dollars at the end of January, while individuals-possessed deposit fell 1.24 billion dollars to 17.53 billion dollars.
The dollar-denominated deposit slumped 4.04 billion dollars to 78.92 billion dollars, and the euro deposit declined 0.2 billion dollars to 5 billion dollars.
Deposit, denominated in the Chinese yuan, grew 0.17 billion dollars to 2.04 billion dollars last month. ■