Yuan deposits in S.Korea decline for five months

Chinese yuan-denominated deposits in South Korea fell for five months in a row due to higher costs for swapping the South Korean won into the yuan, central bank data showed Monday.

Yuan deposits among South Korean residents stood at 18.61 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of March, down 0.02 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The yuan deposits began to surge from the end of 2013 amid wider difference in deposit rates between banks of South Korea and China, rising to the record high of 21.7 billion U.S. dollars in October 2014.

Since then, the deposits denominated in the Chinese currency have reduced to the eight-month low in March due to higher costs for swapping the South Korean currency into the dollar, which in turn is exchanged for the yuan.

As of end-March, deposits in the U.S. currency slid 0.8 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier to 38.16 billion U.S. dollars. The European currency deposits dipped 0.14 billion U.S. dollars to 2.18 billion U.S. dollars, with those for the Japanese yen falling 0.13 billion U.S. dollars to 2.43 billion U.S. dollars.

Overall foreign currency deposits among South Korean residents declined 1.01 billion U.S. dollars from a month earlier to 62.7 billion U.S. dollars as of end-March. Endi