South Korean bonds worth $5.5bn purchased by foreigners

Foreigners bought South Korean bonds worth 6.2 trillion won (5.5 billion U.S. dollars) for the first four months of this year, continuing their buying trend amid strong demand from central banks and global fund managers, the Finance Ministry said Thursday. Overseas investors made a net investment, or net bond purchases minus maturing debts, worth 6.2 trillion won during the January- April period, according to a report by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Foreign holdings of local bonds reached 97.4 trillion won as of end-April, or 7.2 percent of the total outstanding. The holdings consisted of 61.7 trillion won in government bonds, 32.8 trillion won in monetary stabilization bonds issued by the Bank of Korea ( BOK) and 2.9 trillion won in corporate bonds. Foreign bond buying was led by global fund managers and central banks in major economies, the ministry said, noting that such long- term investors showed solid demand for long-term government bonds of South Korea that has positive fiscal soundness and economic fundamentals. Net investment into government bonds was 4.8 trillion won for the first four months of this year, with the reading for monetary stabilization bonds being 1.2 trillion won.