The nation posted a current account surplus for the third consecutive month in July, on the back of robust chip exports. 

According to tentative data from the Bank of Korea on Friday, the current account surplus came to nine-point-13 billion dollars in July. 

The surplus decreased by more than three-point-four billion dollars from June, when it reached its highest point since September 2017. However, the July figure marks the largest surplus for the month since July 2015, when it stood at nine-point-37 billion dollars. 

Accordingly, the cumulative surplus for the first seven months of the year reached 47-point-17 billion dollars, a significant rise from the five-point-26 billion dollars tallied in the same period last year. 

The goods account posted a surplus of eight-point-49 billion dollars, recording a surplus for the 16th consecutive month.  

Exports totaled 58-point-six billion dollars in July, up 16-point-seven percent from a year earlier, while imports rose nine-point-four percent year over year to over 50-point-one billion dollars.