South Korea posts third-largest current account surplus in March

South Korea posted the third-largest current account surplus in March, but it came as imports reduced at a faster pace than exports, boosting concerns about a so-called recession-type surplus, central bank data showed Monday.

Current account surplus was 10.39 billion U.S. dollars in March, logging the third-biggest in the country's history, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It was up 41.9 percent from the same month of last year.

The current account balance has stayed in black for 37 straight months since March 2012, coming close to the longest surplus trend of 38 months recorded between June 1986 and July 1989.

The surplus trend came amid a reduction in both exports and imports, indicating the recession-type surplus. Such surplus put upward pressures on the South Korean currency versus the dollar, hampering price competitiveness of exporters.

Imports reduced at a faster pace than exports on the back of lower crude oil prices. Exports slid 8.4 percent from a year earlier to 49.57 billion dollars in March, and imports tumbled 16. 8 percent to 38.36 billion dollars.