South Korea's current account surplus in January narrowed sharply on account of the Lunar New Year holiday and other factors.

The effect of the Covid-19 outbreak was minimal, however.

According to statistics released by the Bank of Korea on Thursday, South Korea's current account surplus in January was one-point-01 billion U.S. dollars, down from three-point-three billion dollars in the same month last year.

It was also the lowest current account surplus since the country posted a current account deficit in April of last year.

Though South Korea's services account improved, the goods account surplus fell sharply, in part because of fewer working days due to the Lunar New Year holiday.

Exports also fell 12-point-three percent due to the holiday and falling prices of major export items such as semiconductors, steel and chemicals. Imports dropped five-point-two percent on-year to 41-point-52 billion dollars.