SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korean people rushed to hold the U.S. dollar deposits as the strong local currency reduced the value of the greenback, central bank data showed Tuesday.
The dollar-denominated deposits, owned by individuals, stood at 13.35 billion U.S. dollars in January, up 0.16 billion dollars from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The individual-owned dollar deposits kept a record-breaking trend for the third consecutive month as the domestic currency appreciated to the dollar, leading to the lower price of the dollar to purchase.
The won/dollar exchange rate fell below 1,060 won per dollar in January, marking the lowest in over three years.
Helped by the increased dollar deposits, individual deposits denominated in foreign currencies rose to 16.17 billion dollars last month.
Foreign currency deposits, owned by companies, declined 1.22 billion dollars over the month to 65.73 billion dollars in January.
The company-held dollar deposits fell 0.87 billion dollars to 56.73 billion dollars as firms converted dollar holdings to spend the funds on facility investment.