Roundup: S. Korea's current account surplus falls to lowest in over 2 years

South Korea's current account surplus fell in April to the lowest in more than two years on the back of a sharp drop in exports, central bank data showed on Wednesday.

Current account surplus, the broadest measure of cross-border trade, amounted to 3.37 billion U.S. dollars in April, down from a 10.09 billion-dollar surplus the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The current account balance has stayed in black for 50 months since March 2012, but the April reading was the lowest since January 2014.

The surplus drop came as exports, which account for about half of the economy, plunged amid the global economic slowdown. An increase in dividend payment by local companies to foreign investors also contributed to the lower surplus.

Exports tumbled 19.2 percent from a year earlier to 40.31 billion dollars in April, and imports slumped 18.7 percent to 30.75 billion dollars.

Trade surplus for goods reduced to 9.56 billion dollars in April from 12.45 billion dollars in March. Faster fall in exports than imports resulted in lower trade surplus.

By product, display panel exports sank 37.0 percent in April on a yearly basis, with those for home appliances, automobiles, machinery and steel products posting a double-digit decline.

Exports to Latin American countries tumbled 39.7 percent on-year in April, with those to the Middle East and Japan sliding 27.4 percent and 25.4 percent respectively.

The export decline was attributed to weak global demand and lower export prices of steel and oil products amid cheaper crude oil and raw materials.

Primary income account, which gauges investment and interest income as well as salary, posted the largest monthly deficit of 4.07 billion dollars in April, more than quadrupling a deficit of 860 million dollars tallied in the prior month.

Many of local companies paid dividend to foreign investors in April after completing the audit and settlement for 2015. The deficit in dividend income account amounted to 4.51 billion dollars in April, up from 1.22 billion-dollar deficit in March.

Service account balance, which measures the flow of travel, transport costs and royalties, logged a deficit of 1.62 billion dollars in April, up from 1 billion dollars of deficit in March.

Travel account posted a deficit of 530 million dollars, and the deficits in transport and intellectual property rights royalties amounted to 50 million dollars and 60 million dollars each.

Financial account, which gauges cross-border capital flow without transactions in goods and services, registered an outflow of 170 million dollars in April.

Direct investment posted an inflow of 150 million dollars in April as foreigners invested more in South Korean assets than local players did overseas.

Portfolio investment, which includes stock and bond transactions, recorded an outflow of 3.36 billion dollars as domestic investors increased investment in foreign stocks and bonds. Endit