S.Korean banks pay off short term foreign debts

South Korean banks held sufficient foreign currency liquidity to repay foreign debts in June.

The funds were secured in advance through long-term borrowing

The short-term foreign debts with a maturity of less than one year has a rollover rate of 86.7 percent in June.

The rate below 100 percent means local lenders repaid maturing debts rather than refinancing them.

Domestic banks continued to reduce their short-term foreign borrowing in 2012 by securing long-term foreign currency liquidity earlier in preparation for the potential external shocks.

The refinancing rate of long-term external debts that mature in one year or more at 12 domestic banks, excluding regional banks, reached 77.0 percent in June, according to the FSS. The figure was down from a 249.9 percent in May.

For more.