SEOUL: South Korea plans to offer up to 10 years of tax exemptions for overseas stock investment funds as part of measures to boost its capital outflow to tackle a record current account surplus, the finance ministry said on Monday.

Taxes will be exempted on investment and evaluation gains and currency valuation income from investment in newly established funds that put more than 60 per cent of assets in overseas stocks, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The current account surplus in Asia’s fourth-largest economy has been surged in recent years, fuelled in part by depressed domestic demand and weaker global energy prices.

Last year, South Korea posted a record $89.2 billion of current account surplus but capital outflows amounted to a net $72.5bn, official data shows, putting upward pressure on the won and forcing the central bank to absorb the surplus.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play