Korea’s short-term foreign debt slipped in 2015 from the previous year as banks cut back on overseas borrowing, the central bank said Thursday.

External debt with a maturity of one year or shorter totaled $108.7 billion as of the end of 2015, down $7.7 billion from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.


Total external debt consequently stood at $396.6 billion as of the end of last year, also dropping $27.8 billion from the previous year.

However, the value of all assets held abroad stood at $719.7 billion, up $36.2 billion from 2014.

The ratio of short-term debt to the country’s total debt stayed at 27.4 percent as of the end of the year, unchanged from 2014.

Korea’s short-term foreign debt had been an area of concern during past financial crises as it left local banks vulnerable to external shocks.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)