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The Korea Herald
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THE INVESTOR
March 29, 2024

Economy

Korea’s short-term foreign debt ratio hits 5-year high

  • PUBLISHED :February 23, 2018 - 14:29
  • UPDATED :February 23, 2018 - 14:29
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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s short-term foreign debt rose sharply last year, with its ratio to the total reaching a five-year high, the Finance Ministry said on Feb. 23.

The country’s total external debt stood at US$418.8 billion at the end of last year, up US$34.7 billion from a year ago, according to the ministry.

The tally for the end of 2017 also marks a US$8.3 billion rise from three months ago, it said.

The country’s short-term external debt -- with a maturity of one year or less -- totaled US$115.9 billion as of the end of December, a gain of US$11.2 billion from a year ago.

The figure for the end of December accounted for 27.7 percent of the country’s total external debt, an increase from 27.3 percent a year ago, and marks the highest reading since 2012 when the comparable figure was 31.3 percent.

The ratio of short-term foreign debt to foreign exchange reserves stood at 29.8 percent at the end of last year, rising 1.6 percentage points over the cited period.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)

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