Foreign exchange turnover by South Korean banks grew 1.3 percent in 2013 from a year earlier on an increase in trade and foreigners’ stock investment, the central bank said Friday.

The daily FX turnover averaged $45.98 billion last year, compared with $45.38 billion the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea.

The daily trading volume of spots came to $18.18 billion last year, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier, it added.

The daily foreign exchange turnover of forward deals gained 7.3 percent on-year to $7.13 billion while that of FX swaps shed 1.3 percent to $19.54 billion, it said.

In 2013, Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew 2.8 percent, the fastest in two years, after increasing 2 percent in the previous year.

The Korean won appreciated 1.4 percent against the U.S. dollar in 2013 amid the surplus run of the current account. (Yonhap)