By Oh Hyun Woo and Lee Jihae
April saw its first current account surplus in three years and the economy's 12th straight month of finishing in the black.
The Bank of Korea on June 8 released provisional statistics on the international balance of payments showing April posting a current account surplus of USD 1.91 billion, the first black figure for the month since USD 1.49 billion in April 2018.
A deficit was recorded in the same month last year and in 2019 due to factors such as concentrated dividend payments to foreign investors, but returned to the black this year thanks to a rise in exports.
The goods balance, or the gap between exports and imports, logged a surplus of USD 4.56 billion, up USD 3.86 billion from April last year.
Exports rose 41.2% to USD 51.22 billion year on year, with overseas shipments staying strong mainly due to cars, chemical goods and semiconductors. Those of petroleum and steel products recovered to rise for the sixth consecutive month.
On a customs-clearance basis, car exports surged 75.2%, those of petroleum products 94.3%, semiconductors 29% and chemical goods 48.6%.
Imports grew 33.9% to USD 50.79 billion. Due to higher material costs, continued facility investment in semiconductors, and higher consumption of household appliances and cars, imports of raw materials (40.7%), capital goods (28.5%) and consumer goods (28%) all rose.
The service balance finished USD 10 million in the black thanks to improvement in the transportation balance. The service balance saw a surplus in February for the first time in 75 months and suffered a red figure of USD 900 million in the following month, but returned to the black after two months.
The service balance saw a deficit of USD 1.5 billion in April last year.
Due to dividend payments for year-end settlements, the primary income account saw a deficit of USD 1.95 billion, while that of transfer income finished USD 710 million in the red.
hyunw54@korea.kr