[아이뉴스24 박은경 기자] #. Mr. A signed up for a dollar deposit of less than a month at a bank at an interest rate of 4.01% on October 31 and canceled it on November 12 when the exchange rate rose. I signed up by converting 13.72 million won ($10,000) into dollars at the exchange rate at the time of signing up, but when I canceled, I received $10,400 in interest. When converted to won on the 12th, I found 14.62 million won.
As the value of the dollar rose due to the Trump trade, dollar deposits were withdrawn by more than 3 trillion won in two weeks. There has been an increase in cases of people expecting foreign exchange gains like Mr. A.
River dollar image. [사진=연합뉴스]
According to the financial sector on the 13th, the dollar deposit balance of the four major banks, including KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori Bank, as of the previous day was $51.48 billion, a decrease of $2.585 billion compared to the end of last month. Converted to the exchange rate announced by the bank on that day, the amount is over approximately 3.6383 trillion won. Considering the decrease of $2.62 billion in the month of October, the pace is faster.
For foreign currency deposits, the interest rate is determined based on the interest rate on the date of subscription. When canceling, you will receive back the interest rate applied at the time of subscription. In the process of converting to Korean Won, you can make an exchange profit if the exchange rate is higher than when you signed up.
For this reason, when the dollar exchange rate falls, foreign currency deposit subscriptions tend to increase, and when the dollar exchange rate rises, it tends to decrease. In fact, dollar deposits also fluctuated as the dollar exchange rate fluctuated. Last September, when the average monthly trading exchange rate was around 1,330 won, the dollar deposit balance of the four major banks increased to $56.5 billion. When the exchange rate turned upward in October, 2.6 billion dollars was sold, and this month, when it hit 1,400 won, it exceeded last month’s decrease in 10 business days.
Dollar deposits are also advantageous in that they have higher interest rates than won deposits. As of this day, Shinhan Bank‘s interest rate on foreign currency term deposits for less than 6 months is 4.20%. It is 1.30% points (p) higher than the Korean won term deposit (2.50%). For this reason, when the dollar is cheap, its attractiveness increases along with interest rates.
Instead, you must consider the exchange rate when converting won to dollars and signing up. A bank official said, “When the dollar is expensive, even if it is the same 10,000 dollars, the exchange fee is higher when signing up. If you are not a customer holding dollars, the general method is to sign up when it is cheap, cancel when it is expensive, and exchange money.” .
Banks believe that the high point of the won-dollar exchange rate is in the mid-1,400 won range. Shinhan Bank’s S&T Center said in its exchange rate forecast, “The dollar continues to strengthen and is under upward pressure due to concerns about the tariff policy of Trump’s second term,” and added, “The sense of caution at the high point in the 1,400 won range limits further increases, focusing on the mid-1,400 won range. “It is expected that it will fluctuate.”
/Reporter Park Eun-kyung (mylife1440@inews24.com)
