South Korea's current account surplus widened in May, extending its surplus streak to a record 39th straight month, data showed Thursday.
  

The current account surplus reached US$8.65 billion in May, up from a revised $8.14 billion surplus in April, according to the provisional data released by the Bank of Korea. The current account is the biggest measure of cross-border trade.
  

With the latest data, South Korea broke its previous 38-month record streak set between June 1986 and July 1989.
  

The on-month rise was largely attributed to an improvement in investment income, which posted a $297.2 million profit, turning around from a $2.82 billion loss a month earlier, on the back of a rise in equity income.
  

The balance of goods reached $9.19 billion in May, slipping from $12.56 billion in April and snapping a three-month rise.
  

Exports fell 16.3 percent on-year in May, compared with an 11.2 percent drop in the previous month. Imports plunged 19.8 percent, also accelerating from a 17.9 percent fall over the cited period.
  

A BOK official attributed the fall in exports to a mix of factors, including a fall in prices of oil-related products, slowing global trade and a shorter number of working days.
  

Separate data released by the trade ministry on Wednesday showed that the country's outbound shipments continued to shrink in June, falling 1.8 percent on-year and marking the sixth consecutive month in which it has posted a drop in exports from a year earlier.
  

The service account, which includes outlays by South Koreans on overseas trips, logged a deficit of $397.6 million, narrowing from a $1.13 billion deficit in the previous month.
  

In the first five months of the year, South Korea posted a cumulative current account surplus of $40.24 billion, compared with $31.47 billion in the same period a year earlier. The central bank earlier projected a $96 billion current account surplus for this year.
  

Meanwhile, in the financial and capital account, South Korea saw a net outflow of $8.81 billion in May, compared with a $10.06 billion outflow in April.
  

Direct investment outflow narrowed to $1.2 billion from $1.97 billion. Overall securities investment outflow more than doubled to $358.3 million from $138 million over the cited period, as foreigners scaled back their holdings of local stocks, the data showed. (Yonhap)