S. Korea posts current account surplus for 59 months

South Korea's economy posted current account surplus for 59 months in a row though the surplus amount declined compared with the previous month, central bank data showed on Friday.

Current account surplus was 5.28 billion U.S. dollars in January, down from 7.87 billion dollars tallied in December, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It was the lowest in five months.

The current account balance stayed in the black for 59 months through January, maintaining the longest monthly surplus.

Exports, which take up about half of the economy, jumped 18.1 percent from a year earlier to 44.11 billion dollars in January, while imports surged 24.5 percent to 36.29 billion dollars.

Both exports and imports kept rising for the third consecutive month, sending the January trade surplus to 7.81 billion dollars.

Services account balance posted a deficit of 3.36 billion dollars in January, the biggest-ever deficit as the highest number of South Koreans went abroad during the winter vacation.

Travel account deficit increased from 1.02 billion dollars in December to 1.22 billion dollars in January.

The intellectual property right account logged a deficit of 510 million dollars in January, the highest in 11 months.

Primary income account, which reflects salary, dividend and interest income, was a surplus of 1.09 billion dollars in January. Endit