SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Foreign currency deposits in South Korea rose to 69.11 billion U.S. dollars last month due to an increase in U.S. dollar deposits owned by companies, central bank data showed Thursday.
Deposits denominated in foreign currencies stood at 69.11 billion dollars as of July, up 5.5 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The deposits refer to those possessed by local residents as well as foreign civilians and companies that stay here for at least six months.
Last month's expansion was mainly attributed to a growth in the dollar-denominated deposits owned by companies, which increased 4.31 billion dollars last month.
The dollar deposits totaled 59.03 billion dollars as of July, up 4.84 billion dollars from a month earlier.
Deposits denominated in the Japanese yen rose 0.47 billion dollars to 4.47 billion dollars in the cited period, while those in the European and Chinese currencies came in at 2.61 billion dollars and 1.19 billion dollars each at the end of last month.
Foreign currency deposits, possessed by companies, expanded 4.97 billion dollars over the month to 56.54 billion dollars as of July, while those for individual deposits added 0.53 billion dollars to 12.57 billion dollars.
