3월 경상수지 51억8000만달러…73개월 연속 흑자<br /><br /> Seoul's central bank released its prelimary data on the country's balance of payments for March.<br />It showed the service account deficit shrunk... as more Chinese tourists visited Korea.<br />Kim Hyesung breaks down the digits for us. <br />South Korea's travel account deficit shrunk to its lowest level since April last year.<br /> According to the Bank of Korea Friday, the travel account deficit narrowed to one-point-31 billion U.S. dollars in March thanks to a boost in Chinese visitors, which marked its turnaround with an on-year increase for the first time in about 13 months.<br />The number of Chinese visitors in March went up nearly 12 percent on-year to over 400-thousand visitors. <br /> Boosted by the increase in Chinese tourists, the number of foreigners visiting Korea went up over 10 percent on-year, and 30 percent on-month, to 1-point-36 million people in March. <br /> Thanks to the falling travel account deficit, the services account deficit fell below 2-point-3 billion dollars, the lowest since May last year. <br />Korea's central bank said the increasing number of visitors was boosted by lower geopolitical risks following the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, as well as improving relations between Seoul and Beijing.<br />The number of Chinese visitors to the country fell sharply last year due to China's travel ban over the U.S. THAAD deployment in South Korea. <br /> The current account balance logged a surplus of 5.2 billion dollars in March, down from 5.7 billion dollars a year ago, but still posting a surplus for 73 months in a row.<br /> The Bank attributed the reduced surplus to a sharp increase in dividend payments to foreign investors of 2.8 billion dollars last month.<br />Kim Hyesung, Arirang News. <br />
