South Korea's monthly current account surplus slipped from a record high in the previous month but extended its surplus streak for the 34th straight month in December, data showed Monday.

The current account surplus reached $7.22 billion last month, down from a revised $11.32 billion in November, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.

With the December data, the country's accumulated current account surplus hit a record high of $89.42 billion, falling slightly short of the central bank's forecast of $90 billion. It also compares with $81.15 billion in 2013.

In January, the central bank revised its economic outlook, forecasting the annual current surplus to total $90 billion in 2014 and to hit a fresh record of $94 billion this year. Both figures were higher than previous forecasts made in October as the central bank priced in weakening oil prices.

The balance of goods reached $8.52 billion in December, down from a $10.03 billion surplus a month earlier.

The data showed that exports gained 1.7 percent on-year in December while imports fell 1.7 percent in the same period. On an annual basis, exports rose 0.5 percent, slowing from 2.4 percent growth in 2013. Imports, meanwhile, fell 1.3 percent, slightly picking up from a 3.4 percent slump in the previous year.

"The recent fall in imports and slowing growth of exports mostly stem from a fall in global oil prices rather than (circumstances of) the local economy," Roh Chung-seak, head of the BOK's Balance of Payments Team, explained.

The service account, which includes outlays by South Koreans on overseas trips, widened its deficit to $1.54 billion from $165 million in November.

The central bank attributed the bigger deficit to the travel and logistics account. The logistics account shifted to the red, logging a $177 million deficit from a $326 surplus a month earlier. The travel account also posted a deficit of $559 million, reversing a $9 million surplus from the previous month.

The primary income account, which tracks wages of foreign workers and dividend payments overseas, slightly slipped to $1.18 billion from $1.67 billion on an increase in dividend payments, according to the data.

Some analysts projected the high current account surplus to prompt the central bank to further cut the base rate, which stands at a record-matching low of 2 percent.

"The record current account surplus, as well as negative output and inflation gaps, should provide room for the Bank of Korea to cut rates to limit downside risks to the economy," Nomura economist Kwon Young-sun wrote in a report, forecasting two quarter percentage point rate cuts in April and July. (Yonhap)