Seoul:Excess funds held by South Korean businesses reached an all-time high in the second quarter, driven by strong semiconductor exports that bolstered corporate earnings, as revealed by central bank data on Wednesday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, net financial funds, which are calculated as the value of financial assets minus financial liabilities, held by non-financial corporations totaled 67.1 trillion won (US$50.1 billion) at the end of June. This marked a significant increase from 20.8 trillion won three months prior, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
This figure represents the highest quarterly result since the BOK began compiling such data in 2009.
In contrast, households' net financial funds decreased to 60.7 trillion won in the second quarter from 79.2 trillion won in the previous quarter. This decline was partly attributed to a decrease in incomes and an increase in home purchases.
Financial assets held by households and nonprofit organizations in South Korea totaled 6,930.2 trillion won at the end of June, marking an increase of 513 trillion won from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, their debts rose by 28.2 trillion won over the same period, reaching 2,495.8 trillion won.
The data also showed that the ratio of financial assets to liabilities owned by households stood at 2.78 percent. Additionally, the household debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio was 81.1 percent as of the end of June, a decrease from 85.3 percent three months earlier.