March saw a current account surplus of USD 9.14 billion, the Bank of Korea said on May 9 based on tentative data on balance of payments. Shown are containers on April 30 at the wharfs Sinseondae and Gamman of Busan Port in Busan's Nam-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

March saw the economy's 23rd straight month of current account surplus.

The Bank of Korea on May 9 said tentative data on balance of payments for the month found a black figure of USD 9.14 billion, up from USD 7.18 billion in February this year and USD 6.99 billion in March last year.

Higher sales of passenger cars and semiconductors raised exports in March 2.2% year on year to USD 59.31 billion. Imports rose 2.3% to USD 50.82 billion.

Risers by item on a customs-clearance basis included ships (52.6%), information and communications devices (21%), and semiconductors (11.6%).

By market, export growth was seen in Southeast Asia (11%) and the European Union (9.8%) but other key markets such as Central and South America (17.1%) and China (4.2%) suffered declines.

aisylu@korea.kr