S.Korea's foreign currency deposit falls as importers pay cost

SEOUL, March 18 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign currency deposit fell last month as importers paid cost amid the strong U.S. dollar, central bank data showed on Monday.

Foreign currency deposit amounted to 73.68 U.S. dollars as of end-February, down 0.84 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea(BOK).

The reduction came as importers paid import costs with money from foreign currency deposits, rather than foreign funds swapped in the foreign exchange market, amid the dollar's appreciation versus the local currency.

The won/dollar exchange rate was 1,124.7 won per dollar as of end-February, up 12.0 won from a month ago.

The dollar-denominated deposit declined 1.17 billion U.S. dollars to 62.5 billion U.S. dollars in the cited period. The Chinese yuan deposit fell 0.29 billion U.S. dollars to 1.19 billion U.S. dollars, but the euro deposit increased 0.27 billion U.S. dollars to 3.71 billion U.S. dollars.