'They can buy up to $5,000 at one go': Some money changers run out of Korean won after it falls to new low against Singapore dollar

With the cherry blossom season in full bloom, many Singaporeans may be heading to South Korea.

And with the won dipping to a 10-year low against the Singapore dollar, these travellers have even more to cheer about.

The won had already been gradually sliding against the Singapore dollar in the past month, according to foreign exchange website xe.com.

At 5.30pm last Friday (April 12), the exchange rate was 1018.16 won. At the time of publication, it is 1016.07 won.

Some money changers are seeing more customers buying the Korean won and in larger sums, with a handful saying they are selling out the currency early in the day.

The owner of Fiat Money Changer, located at The Arcade in Raffles Place, told AsiaOne that he has observed a spike in the number of customers buying the won. 

"Depending on the day, we can even sell out [the won] by 3pm or 4pm," he said, adding that the amounts changed are also higher. Currently, he has no plans to stock more won.

Similarly, Habib Mohamed, the manager at Faizam Forex, which is also at The Arcade, said there has been a 10 to 50 per cent increase in the number of customers exchanging won, reported Lianhe Zaobao.

The 60-year-old told the Chinese daily last Saturday that he had run out of won by the afternoon despite replenishing his stock in the morning.

Over at Rosemin Store Money Changer at Jurong East Bus Interchange, its owner told AsiaOne that while he has not seen a significant increase in customers looking to buy the won, his regular customers have been changing more of the currency in the past week.

"They can buy up to $5,000 [worth of won] at one go," he said.

ALSO READ: 'I ran out of stock by afternoon': Money changers kept busy as Malaysian ringgit hits new low against Singapore dollar

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com