Wednesday July 1, 03:37 AM
SKorea's trade surplus surges to record: govt
SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea's trade surplus reached a record 7.4 billion dollars in June after exports fell at a slower-than-expected pace, government figures have shown.
Exports were worth 33 billion dollars last month, falling 11.3 percent year-on-year, while imports declined 32.3 percent to 25.6 billion, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a report.
The previous record monthly surplus was 5.7 billion dollars in April.
The ministry said exports, the economy's leading driver, recorded an eighth straight month of year-on-year negative growth in June.
But the pace of the decline had improved markedly from the 28.5 percent contraction reported for May.
For the first half of this year, exports declined 22.3 percent year-on-year to 166.1 billion dollars, with imports falling 34.6 percent for a record surplus of 21.6 billion dollars.
The ministry said Asia's fourth largest economy could have a trade surplus of more than 30 billion dollars for the whole of the year.
Exports this year will likely fall 14 percent to 361.1 billion dollars and imports by 24 percent to 330.1 billion, it said.
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