SEOUL, KOREA - Of all Korea's foreign debts, the share of short-term debts (less than one year) has declined below the 30-percent level for the first time in 13 years and 3 months. According to a report "International Investment Position as of End of March 2013" published by the Bank of Korea on May 22, the balance of external debt as of the end of March was US$410.3 billion, down $3.3 billion from a quarter ago. In particular, the short-term debt balance has shrunk by $4.5 billion to $122.2 billion.
The percentage of short-term debts in the total has accordingly fallen to 29.8 percent, the first time the ratio dropped below 30 percent since the end of 1999 when the figure was 29.7 percent. This is 22.1 percentage points lower than that in September 2008 in the midst of the global credit crisis.
As of the end of March, the percentage of short-term debts to foreign reserves was also at a record low with 37.3 percent, the lowest level since March 2006. Meanwhile, the balance of long-term debts was $288.0 billion, up $1.3 billion from a quarter ago largely due to a rise in foreign investment in bonds.
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