The KOSPI and the won-dollar change charge are displayed on displays within the dealing room of Hana Financial institution in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
A web $19.6 billion of foreign currency echange flowed out of Korea within the first 10 months of final yr, resulting in the weak spot of the Korean received, a Financial institution of Korea (BOK) official mentioned Wednesday.
The capital outflow got here regardless of a present account surplus of $89.6 billion and a web $31.9 billion funding in Korean securities by foreigners over the cited interval, as funding in international capital markets by retail traders and the Nationwide Pension Service elevated, in response to the BOK.
“Modifications within the conduct of residents listed here are driving shifts in provide and demand (of international foreign money),” BOK official Kwon Yong-oh mentioned throughout a symposium on international change market insurance policies, noting that the residents’ funding in abroad securities reached $117.1 billion within the January-October interval of 2025, sharply up from $71 billion a yr earlier.
Kwon mentioned the huge capital outflow served as a reason behind the current weak spot of the Korean received, together with different elements, together with the widening growth-rate hole between Korea and the USA, in addition to variations in anticipated returns from the home and abroad inventory markets.
On Wednesday, the Korean foreign money was hovering close to the 1,480 received degree per U.S. greenback, the weakest degree since Dec. 23, when the native foreign money ended at 1,483.6 received.
The Dec. 23 degree was simply shy of the 2025 low of 1,484.1 received recorded on April 9, which additionally marked the bottom since March 12, 2009.
