SEOUL, May 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign currency deposit fell last month owing to higher import costs and corporate overseas investment, central bank data showed Monday.
Deposit, denominated in foreign currencies, came to 86.99 billion U.S. dollars at the end of April, down by 5.72 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The foreign currency deposit, held by companies, declined by 4.69 billion dollars from a month earlier to 71.65 billion dollars at the end of last month as companies increased overseas investment.
Higher global commodity prices also contributed to lower corporate deposit in foreign currencies.
Individuals-possessed foreign currency deposit reduced by 1.03 billion dollars to 15.34 billion dollars in the cited period.
Individuals sold the dollar assets last month to lock in profit from the strong dollar trend.
The U.S. dollar-denominated deposit reduced by 5.37 billion dollars to 73.18 billion dollars last month.
Deposits, denominated in the Chinese yuan, the Japanese yen and the European single currency shed to 1.56 billion dollars, 5.66 billion dollars and 5.01 billion dollars, respectively. ■