South Korean banks' foreign currency deposits rebounds to $68.51b in July

A surge in euro-denominated savings boosted foreign deposits.

Foreign currency deposits held by South Korean banks registered its first positive growth after hitting $68.51b in July following four straight months of decline, reports Yonhap News.

Foreign deposits include those held by foreigners who have stayed in South Korea for more than six months and foreign companies operating in the country.

A surge in euro-denominated savings brought about by businesses beefing up their saving pools to ease foreign takeover boosted month-on-month figures from $890m in June. The strengthening US dollar also helped in the industry turnaround from a slump that started in April.

Also read: Korea moves to ease banks' overseas expansion

Deposits in euros rose $670m to $4.28b in July, whilst U.S.-dollar-denominated deposits increased from $50m to $56.7b over the same period.

U.S. dollars still accounted for the lion’s share of Korean banks’ foreign currency deposits at 82.8%, followed by yen-denominated deposits at 6.5%and euro-denominated deposits at 6.2%.