Foreign currency deposits held by banks operating in South Korea fell in April as exporters reduced their deposits of dollar-denominated earnings, central bank data showed Tuesday.

Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by local banks, domestic and foreign, reached $67.39 billion in April, down from 70.54 billion a month earlier, the Bank of Korea said in a statement. 

Broken down, foreign currency deposits held by domestic lenders came to $57.98 billion in April, down from $60.33 billion in March. The deposits by foreign banks stood at $9.41 billion, down from 10.21 billion during the same period.

Foreign deposits include those held by foreigners who have stayed in South Korea for more than six months, as well as foreign companies operating here.

The central bank attributed the on-month decline mainly to a decrease in U.S. dollar deposits by exporters.

By currency, dollar deposits fell to $57.79 billion in April from $60.14 billion a month earlier. Euro deposits came to $2.98 billion in April from $3.1 billion in March. Yen deposits fell to $3.77 billion from $4.26 billion, the data said.

By holder, companies held $55.32 billion in foreign currency deposits in April, down from $58.25 billion a month earlier. Deposits held by individuals fell to $12.07 billion in April from $12.29 billion a month earlier, it said. (Yonhap)