November 5, 1999 
| | |
| ||
| November 5, 1999 | atimes.com | |
| ||
| The Koreas S Korea becomes a creditor nation SEOUL - South Korea has fully repaid foreign debts which reached over $50 billion during the financial crisis in late 1997, and is for the first time lending more than borrowing from abroad, the Finance and Economy Ministry said Thursday. Foreign debts decreased by $1.7 billion from August to $140.9 billion as of September. Loans to other countries totaled $141.3 billion, down $200 million. This is the first time that Korea has became a creditor nation with $400 million more in loans granted than borrowed, since the country made out a balance sheet on foreign debts in 1979, the ministry said. Net foreign debt, or the amount subtracted from lending to debt, reached $54.1 billion in late 1997 but dropped to $20.2 billion by the end of last year. But Korea needs to reduce its net foreign debt further to become an actual creditor country because up to 8 percent of its overseas bonds are connected to debt-ridden countries like Indonesia and Russia. The foreign debt ratio against gross domestic product (GDP) dropped to 37.6 percent from 46.3 percent in December last year, but still remains high above the recommended level of under 30 percent. Short-term borrowings amounted to $35 billion to take up 24.8 percent of total debts, down from 25.4 percent in August. The short-term debt ratio was 39.9 percent at the height of the financial crisis in late 1997. The ministry predicted that the country would maintain a net creditor position due to the surplus in the current-account balance. (Asia Pulse/Yonhap) | |||||||||
 |
|
Front | China | Southeast Asia | Japan | Koreas | India/Pakistan | Central Asia/Russia | Oceania Business Briefs | Global Economy | Asian Crisis | Media/IT | Editorials | Letters | Search/Archive |
back to the top ©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd. |
