Foreign currency deposits held by banks operating in South Korea dropped in June as exporters decreased their deposits of dollar-denominated earnings, central bank data showed Friday.

Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by local lenders, domestic and foreign, reached US$63.61 billion in June, down $6.33 billion from a month earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement.

Broken down, foreign currency deposits held by domestic banks came to $54.44 billion in June, down from 59.87 billion in May. The deposits by foreign lenders stood at $9.17 billion, down from $10.07 billion during the same period.

Foreign deposits include those held by foreigners who have stayed in South Korea for more than six months, as well as foreign companies operating here.

The BOK attributed the on-month decrease mainly to a fall in U.S. dollar deposits by exporters.

By currency, dollar deposits fell to $54.19 billion in June from $59.58 billion month earlier. Euro deposits came to $2.58 billion in June from $2.94 billion in May. Yen deposits were valued at $4 billion in June from $4.38 billion in May, the latest data showed.

By holder, companies held $51.57 billion in foreign currency deposits in June, down from $57.3 billion a month earlier. Deposits held by individuals came to $12.04 billion in June from $12.64 billion in May, it said. (Yonhap)