Investment by foreigners in South Korea posted a resilient rise in 2005 from a year earlier due to increasing investment in stocks and bonds, the nation's central bank said Monday.
Foreign investment in South Korea was tallied at an outstanding US$538.3 billion as of the end of last year, up $124.8 billion from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.
Investment in stocks and bonds accounted for most of the rise.
Securities investment rose by $100.8 billion to $311.7 billion, while direct investment rose $17.1 billion to $104.9 billion.
Other types of investments, such as deposits, increased $6.8 billion to $121.7 billion.
Foreign stock investment reached $93.1 billion as of the end of 2005, up $3.1 billion, while bond investment rose by $5.59 billion to $7.77 billion.
A sharp rise in local stock markets boosted foreign investment, the bank said. Foreign investors accounted for nearly half of the local main bourse in mid-2004 and throughout 2005, but their stock holdings in Asia's fourth-largest economy has started declining since mid-2006 on concerns over a global economic slowdown.
According to a local stock market operator, foreign investors accounted for 37.9 percent of the local stock market in terms of market value as of Sept. 14, the lowest figure since September 2003. Compared with the end of last year, the figure was also down by 1.8 percentage points.
In the meantime, South Korean investment overseas rose by $36.2 billion to $361.2 billion, the central bank said. Securities investment went up by $15.04 billion to $44.5 billion, it said.
Seoul, Sept. 25 (Yonhap News)
Foreign investment in S. Korea rises in 2005 |
