A decrease of 5.1 billion dollars in long-term external debt compared to the end of last year
Keep an eye on major country monetary policies and geopolitical factors such as the Middle East,
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, ‘[Seoul Economy]’,
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, ‘In the first quarter of this year, external debt decreased by 5.1 billion dollars compared to the end of last year, totaling 667.5 billion dollars. External assets increased by 7.5 billion dollars during the same period, reaching 1.521 trillion dollars.’,
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, ‘On the 22nd, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced the ‘2024 Q1 External Debt Trend’ containing this information. Short-term external debt (maturity of 1 year or less) increased by 3 billion dollars to 141 billion dollars, while long-term external debt (maturity over 1 year) decreased by 5.4 billion dollars to 526.5 billion dollars during the same period.’,
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, ‘By sector, government (7.1 billion dollars) and central bank (1.5 billion dollars) external debt decreased. Banks (0.7 billion dollars) and other sectors (non-banks, public, private enterprises) increased external debt by 3 billion dollars.’,
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, ‘Net external debt (external assets – external debt) at the end of Q1 was 384.6 billion dollars, an increase of 12.6 billion dollars compared to the end of last year (372 billion dollars). However, due to the decrease in long-term debt, the proportion of short-term debt/total debt decreased from 26.6% in Q1 last year to 21.1% this year. The ratio of short-term debt to reserves also decreased from 42.0% to 33.6% during the same period.’,
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, ‘The Ministry of Economy and Finance evaluated that the external debt soundness is being maintained at a good level, but they will monitor the trend of external debt due to the continued uncertainty in major countries’ monetary policies. Especially in a situation where geopolitical issues such as the Middle East situation may amplify volatility in the international financial markets, they plan to continue close cooperation among related agencies.’,
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External Debt Status (End of Period),
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