South Korea achieved a record trade surplus of US$6.02 billion last month thanks mainly to a sharp drop in imports and favorable exchange rates, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said yesterday.
Exports totaled US$30.67 billion last month, a 19 percent fall year-on-year, while imports fell 35.6 percent to US$24.65 billion, preliminary figures based on the first 20 days of the month showed. The surplus surpassed the previous record of just under US$4.3 billion in March.
The ministry said ship sales and a weak won continued to help exports.
The won-US dollar exchange rate averaged 1,336 last month, making local products cheaper overseas, compared with an average 1,103 for the whole of last year.
EXPORTS UP
Exports rose by US$2.6 billion month-on-month despite the global economic downturn.
“In the months to come, a fall in exports is inevitable, but the fall will likely be milder if [the won-US dollar rate] remains higher and oil prices hold lower,” the ministry said in a statement.
Exports to the country’s biggest market, China, fell 20.5 percent in the first 20 days of last month compared with a year earlier, the data showed. Exports to the US were down 19.2 percent, while those to Japan declined 34.1 percent. Exports to the EU and ASEAN nations fell 1.0 percent and 26.3 percent respectively.
INFLATION SLOWS
Meanwhile, South Korea’s annual inflation rate slowed last month for the second successive month in a row, official goverment figures showed yesterday.
The consumer price index was up 3.6 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 3.9 percent annual increase in March and 4.1 percent in February.
Month-on-month, the index rose 0.3 percent compared with a 0.7 percent increase in March.
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