South Korea had a current account surplus of $6.93 billion in March, the Bank of Korea said on Thursday.

That’s up from $6.86 billion in February.

The goods account recorded an $8.09 billion surplus as exports increased annually by 3.0 percent to $58.27 billion and as imports decreased by 13.1 percent to $50.18 billion, both compared to one year earlier.

The services account posted a $2.43 billion deficit owing to deficits in the use of intellectual property and travel accounts.

The primary income account recorded a $1.83 billion surplus due to an increase in the income on equity.

The secondary income account recorded a $0.56 billion deficit.

Looking at the financial account, net assets increased by $11.06 billion during March.

Direct investment assets increased by $2.83 billion, and direct investment liabilities increased by $1.61 billion, resulting in a net increase of $1.22 billion.

There was an $8.88 billion increase in portfolio investment assets during the month, and a $0.84 billion decrease in portfolio investment liabilities, leading to a net increase of $9.72 billion.

Financial derivatives posted a net increase of $0.78 billion.

In terms of other investments, there was a net decrease of $4.22 billion with a decrease of $0.04 billion in assets and an increase of $4.18 billion in liabilities.

Reserve assets increased by $3.56 billion.

For the first quarter of 2024, the current account surplus was $16.84 billion.