SEOUL, KOREA- Korea's balance of services is forecast to break the record at the year's end after two consecutive years' of service balance surplus. According to the Bank of Korea on October 29 in a report "September 2013 International Balance of Payments (Preliminary)," the September service balance was US$870 million, continuing a surplus rally for seven straight months.The cumulative surplus in services for the first nine months of the year has been $4.61 billion, almost double that for the same period last year of $2.32 billion.
The big jump in service balance was largely due to a surplus in transportation services ($6.29 billion) and other services, whose nine-month cumulative balance turned to a surplus of $4.20 billion from a deficit of $1.78 billion during the same months in 2012. As for the tourism balance within the service balance, it widened the deficit volume to $5.88 billion from $4.17 billion for the January-September period.
The overall current account balance that includes the service balance is expected to rise to a record-high level following last year's record high. During the month of September, the current balance continued its 20th straight month of surplus with the cumulative surplus for the nine months reaching $48.79 billion.
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