South Korea's foreign currency deposit kept rising for three straight months as companies secured the US dollar liquidity on worry about an economic fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, central bank data showed Tuesday.
Foreign currency deposits, held by residents, amounted to 80.92 billion US dollars as of the end of May, up $2.74 billion from a month earlier, according to Bank of Korea (BOK).
Residents refer to locals and foreigners who have stayed there for at least six months, reports Xinhua.
The deposit, denominated in foreign currencies, continued to grow for the third consecutive month as companies sought to possess more US dollar funds amid the economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Foreign currency deposit, owned by companies, advanced $2.96 billion to $64.94 billion as of end-May, while individuals-held deposit slipped $0.22 billion to $15.98 billion.
The dollar-denominated deposit expanded $1.92 billion from a month earlier to $69.92 billion at the end of last month, and the euro deposit gained $0.68 billion to $4.14 billion.
The Chinese yuan deposit stood at $1.28 billion as of end-May, and the Japanese yen deposit came to $3.99 billion.