Korea's larger current account surplus on back of goods surplus

Korea's current account surplus widened to USD10.6bn in September, above forecasted. The wider surplus was primarily due to the larger goods surplus, which offset a slight deterioration in the primary income surplus and the services deficit. 

The deficit in the services account widened again to USD1.7bn in September from USD1.3bn in August, mainly driven by a larger deficit in the intellectual property account as well as other business services. 

"With only three months left in the year, and the YTD surplus standing at USD80.6bn, the current account surplus is likely to reach USD105bn in 2015and USD90bn in 2016 (BoK: USD93bn)", says Barclays. 

That said, the government's efforts to push out the current account surplus are working. The financial and capital account recorded a cumulative deficit of USD74bn, of which 60% (USD43.7bn) was recycled in the four months between June and September.