S. Korea posts 89.4 bln USD current account surplus in 2014

South Korea posted a record current account surplus in 2014 as imports declined at a faster pace on the back of low oil prices, central bank data showed Monday.

Current account surplus was 89.42 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, up 10.2 percent from the previous record high of 81.15 billion dollars in 2013, according to the Bank of Korea. It was roughly in line with the bank's forecast of 90 billion dollars.

Exports, which account for about half of the economy, inched up 0.5 percent from a year earlier to 621.54 billion dollars in 2014. After peaking at 27.4 percent in 2010, the export growth kept falling to 2.8 percent in 2012 and 2.4 percent in 2013.

Imports reduced 1.3 percent to 528.66 billion dollars, falling at a steeper pace than exports and marking the third consecutive year of decline. It also refueled concerns about the so-called recession-type surplus.

A fall in imports came as global oil prices declined sharply. Lower oil prices also contributed to slower export rise as cheaper oil pulled down export prices of oil-related products.

Trade surplus increased from 82.78 billion dollars in 2013 to 92.88 billion dollars in 2014 on the import decline. Endi