Roundup: S. Korea posts longest monthly current accounts surplus for 49 months

South Korea's economy posted the longest monthly current account surplus for 49 straight months thanks to faster fall in imports than exports, central bank data showed on Monday.

Current account surplus reached 10.09 billion U.S. dollars in March, surpassing the 10 billion-dollar level for the first time in six months, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The surplus reduced from 9.91 billion dollars in November 2015 to 6.82 billion dollars in January 2016 before expanding to 10.09 billion dollars in March.

For the first three months of this year, the current account surplus reached 24.08 billion dollars, the highest quarterly surplus since the bank began compiling the data in 1980.

The current account balance stayed in the black for 49 months in a row, maintaining the longest monthly surplus since March 2012.

The continued surplus was mainly attributable to faster fall in imports than exports, leading to a trade surplus for goods at 12.45 billion dollars in March, up from 7.54 billion dollars in February.

Exports, which account for about half of the economy, reduced 9.3 percent from a year earlier to 44.54 billion dollars in March, and imports tumbled 16.1 percent to 32.1 billion dollars.

The longest current account surplus boosted worries about the Asia's No.4 economy as the continued surplus put upward pressures on the local currency versus the dollar and lowered price competitiveness of local exporters.

Exports of oil products tumbled 39.7 percent in March amid cheaper crude oil, and those for display panels and ships plunged 32.8 percent and 28.8 percent respectively. Home appliances exports declined 14.6 percent.

Shipments to the European Union increased 12.7 percent, but those to China and the United States, South Korea's top two trading partners shrank 12.3 percent and 3.7 percent each. Exports to both the Middle East and Latin American countries sank more than 30 percent.

Service account balance, which measures the flow of travel, transport costs and royalties, logged a deficit of 1.0 billion dollars in March, but it was the smallest deficit since May 2015. Intellectual property rights deficit reduced, but travel account deficit increased to 590 million dollars.

Primary income account, which gauges investment and interest incomes as well as salary, posted a deficit of 860 million dollars in March.

Financial account, which gauges cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, logged an inflow of 12.91 billion dollars in March.

Portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond transactions, recorded an inflow of 5.87 billion dollars in March. Foreigners sold local bonds, while purchasing domestic stocks, marking the first foreign purchase of local stocks in 10 months.

Foreign funds flowed into the local stock market as risk-averse sentiment eased amid a rebound in crude oil prices and accommodative monetary policy in major economies.

Direct investment logged an inflow of 3.56 billion dollars in March, up from an inflow of 1.55 billion dollars in February. Other investment income, including trade credit and foreign debts, registered an inflow of 2.8 billion dollars. Enditem