South Korea posted a surplus in its current account in the first quarter amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to tentative data by the Bank of Korea on Thursday, the country's current account surplus came to 13-point-six billion dollars in the January-March period, up one-point-42 billion dollars on-year. The figure has remained in the black for 32 straight quarters. 

The country's goods account surplus narrowed to 15-point-three billion dollars to hit a seven-year low in the first quarter as exports dropped at a faster rate than imports. 

The service account continued to be in the red, but its deficit decreased by one-point-nine billion dollars on-year to five-point-28 billion dollars.   

In March, South Korea's current account surplus marked six-point-23 billion dollars to post a surplus for eleven consecutive months.

A BOK official said the full-fledged economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to be reflected in the country's current account from April when exporters across the board began to see drops in outbound shipments.