Seoul, Feb 27 (NationPress) In January, South Korea experienced a drop in foreign currency deposits for the first time in three months, primarily attributed to a reduction in corporate holdings, as per data released by the central bank on Friday.

The total outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents was recorded at US$118.03 billion at the end of January, reflecting a decrease of $1.4 billion from the previous month, according to information from the Bank of Korea (BOK), as reported by Yonhap news agency.

This decline marks the first monthly drop since October, following increases in both November and December that had propelled the total to a historic peak amid a depreciating won and increased volatility in the foreign exchange market.

Residents include South Korean nationals, foreigners residing in the country for over six months, and foreign enterprises. Interbank deposits are not included in this data.

Corporate foreign currency deposits decreased by $1.82 billion to $100.06 billion, while individual deposits saw a rise of $420 million to $17.35 billion.

When categorized by currency, deposits in U.S. dollars increased by $400 million to $96.34 billion, and deposits in Japanese yen rose by $520 million to $9.51 billion.

Conversely, euro-denominated deposits fell by $2.36 billion to $9.39 billion, while Chinese yuan deposits decreased by $70 million to $1.38 billion, according to the data.

The local currency has bounced back from a multi-year low of nearly 1,500 won per U.S. dollar recorded late last year, currently stabilizing around the 1,430 won level.

In the midst of ongoing market fluctuations, the won opened at 1,432.2 per dollar on Friday, down 6.4 won from the previous day.

Additionally, banks reported that overall lending rates increased for the third consecutive month in January, driven by rising household loan rates amid stricter regulations aimed at stabilizing the housing market, as indicated by the data released on Friday.

The average interest rate for new bank loans reached 4.24 percent last month, reflecting a rise of 0.05 percentage points from December, as reported by the Bank of Korea (BOK). This figure has been on a steady upward trend since November 2025.

This uptick coincided with an increase in the rate for new household loans, which climbed by 0.15 percentage points to 4.5 percent, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase. Notably, the average rate for home-backed mortgage loans rose by 0.06 percentage points to 4.29 percent.