S. Korea's current account surplus rises 12.4% in January-September period

South Korea's cumulative current account surplus reached US$61.86 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 12.4 percent from $55.04 billion tallied in the same period last year, the central bank said Wednesday.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) forecast that this year's current account surplus will amount to $84 billion, compared with a record high of $79.9 billion set in 2013.

In September alone, the surplus totaled $7.62 billion, up $420 million from the previous month.

However, BOK officials raised concerns about what they called "a surplus stemming from a decrease in imports caused by sluggish domestic consumption."

Imports in the January-September period inched down 0.3 percent from a year earlier, while exports rose 2.4 percent over the cited period, according to the BOK.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com

S. Korea's current account surplus rises 12.4% in January-September period

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