South Korea's services account deficit surged to an all-time high of 2.55 billion U.S. dollars in February on rises in transport and trade-related services costs, the local newspaper Korea Times said Thursday.

According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korea's central bank, the surplus in the transportation account fell because of the Lunar New Year holidays in mid-February and a rise in royalties payments. The travel account deficit fell by 410 million U.S. dollars from a month ago to 1.06 billion U.S. dollars in February as the number of outgoing travelers decreased.

The previous services account deficit record was at 2.09 billion U.S. dollars in August last year.

The BOK said the account will likely record large deficits in March and April due to an expected rise in the income account deficit stemming from rises in dividend payments.

South Korea's trade balance, which covers the nation's exports and imports, posted a surplus of 2.48 billion U.S. dollars in February, up from 1.29 billion U.S. dollars the previous month, on the back of brisk exports of steel products and chips.

Customs-cleared exports reached 26.3 billion U.S. dollars in February, up 10.5 percent from a year earlier, while imports increased 7.3 percent to 252.3 billion U.S. dollars.