SEOUL, May 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign currency deposits fell the most in seven months as the U.S. dollar's ascent to the local currency encouraged companies and individuals to sell dollars, central bank data showed Tuesday.

Deposits denominated in foreign currencies amounted to 78.22 billion U.S. dollars as of end-April, down 3.11 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It was the biggest decline since September last year. The deposits refer to those owned by local residents including locals and local companies as well as foreigners and foreign firms having stayed here for at least six months.

Individuals and companies withdrawn dollars from bank deposits and sold them as the strong dollar trend increased the conversion value into local currency.

The won/dollar exchange rate was 1,068.0 per dollar as of end-April, up from 1,063.5 won recorded a month earlier.

The dollar-denominated deposits declined 3.73 billion dollars over the month to 66.35 billion dollars as of the end of April, while deposits denominated in the Japanese yen and the European single currency increased last month.

The Chinese yuan deposits gained 20 million dollars to 1.1 billion dollars in the cited period.