SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korea posted a current account surplus for the ninth straight month in October thanks to brisk exports, enabled by an expanded surplus in the goods balance and a decrease in the service account deficit, the central bank said Friday.

    According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), the nation's current account surplus topped 4.94 billion U.S. dollars last month, up from September's 4.03 billion U.S. dollars.

    Hitting a four-month high as well, the October figure pulled up the accumulative surplus for 2009 to 37 billion U.S. dollars, while the figure hit a deficit of 9.17 billion U.S. dollars during the same period last year.

    The nine-month-straight surplus came as imports have fallen by a faster pace than exports amid the global downturn, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said.

    The goods balance logged a 5.72 billion dollars surplus in the month, up from 5.28 billion dollars surplus a month earlier, due to a surge in shipping exports, it said.

    While overseas shipments fell 5.5 percent year-on-year to 35.89billion U.S. dollars, imports dropped more sharply, at 14.7 percent, to 30.17 billion U.S. dollars, the BOK said.

    The deficit in the service account dropped to 1.13 billion U.S. dollars from 1.63 billion U.S. dollars in September, as expenditures in transportation, overseas tourism, and other sectors altogether declined.

    The income account, covering wages for foreign workers and dividend payments overseas, stood at 550 million U.S. dollars, close to 540 million U.S. dollars of September.

    The transfer account tallied a net inflow of 190 million U.S. dollars, slightly expanding from a revised net inflow of 160 million U.S. dollars a month earlier.

    Meanwhile, the capital account, including cross-border investments, registered a net inflow of 1.54 billion dollars in September, sharply falling from a revised net inflow of 7.2 billion dollars a month earlier.

    The central bank in early November said the country is likely to top a current account surplus of up to 40 billion U.S dollars this year due to oil prices and the currency exchange rate, revising its forecast of 29 billion dollars in early July.

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