SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign debt fell in the third quarter on the reduction in short-term external liability, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Foreign debt amounted to 458.2 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of September, down 3.9 billion dollars from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The external liability with a maturity of less than a year diminished 6.2 billion dollars to 133.8 billion dollars in the cited period, while the long-term debt that matures in more than a year increased 2.4 billion dollars to 324.4 billion dollars.
The ratio of short-term foreign debt to the total external liability was 29.2 percent as of end-September, down from 30.3 percent recorded three months earlier.
The ratio of short-term foreign debt to foreign reserves also declined from 34.7 percent to 33.2 percent in the same period, reflecting a better soundness of external liability.
It was attributable to the matured government bonds, owned by foreign investors, and the reduction in short-term foreign debts owed by banks.
Net external credit, which refers to external credit minus foreign debt, reached a new high of 479.8 billion dollars as of end-September, up 8.7 billion dollars from three months ago.
