South Korea's short-term foreign debt falls to 6-year low
2013-05-22 12:09:25
South Korea's short-term foreign debt declined to its lowest level since 2006 due to the weakness in the local currency and subdued credit loan demand from exporters, data from Bank of Korea showed Wednesday.
Short-term foreign debt fell by $4.5 billion to $122.2 billion in the first quarter, the smallest since the fourth quarter of 2006.
The ratio of short-term debt to foreign exchange reserves declined to 37.3 percent from 38.7 percent at the end of 2012.
Meanwhile, long-term debt increased by $1.3 billion to $288 billion in the first quarter, taking the total external debt to $410.3 billion.