Korea’s key rate poised to be lower than that of U.S.

When the 2008-09 subprime mortgage crisis hit the United States, a great volume of global equity funds flowed into the South Korean bond market amid the widened gap between interest rates of the two countries.But the current situation is reversing the trend as the rate gap has continued to narrow over the past few months, according to data from the Bank of Korea. The continued contraction stems mainly from the U.S.’ move to hike its benchmark rate and Korea’s expected monetary easing policy.Whil

June 8, 2015

Food Ministry, CJ China team up for exports

South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry will sign a cooperation pact with retail giant CJ to broaden the China-based distribution channel of Korean agricultural products, the ministry said Monday.Lee Ju-myeung, director general of the Food Industry Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, will sign a memorandum of understanding with CJ China chief Park Keun-tae on Tuesday in Beijing, over sorting out Korean food products with high sales potentials in China and marketing t

June 8, 2015

Regulator set to tighten monitoring on MERS-related stocks

South Korea's top financial regulator said Monday that it will beef up the monitoring of the price movement of stocks related to the fast-spreading Middle East Respiratory Syndrome on the local equity market.  The country reported its sixth death from MERS earlier in the day, with the total number of people diagnosed with the disease here rising to 87.  The fatal illness has hit the stock market hard, dragging down shares of tourism-related companies, especially cosmetics firms and retailers, as

June 8, 2015

MERS factor may press BOK for another rate cut

South Korea’s central bank is facing growing pressure to further cut the key interest rate upon concerns that the spread of the Middle East respiratory syndrome will drag down economic growth.As the escalating impact of the virus is weighing on the economy, the Bank of Korea may decide to stimulate the already sluggish domestic market by announcing an earlier-than-expected rate cut, according to observers. The bank is scheduled to hold its monthly monetary policy committee meeting on Thursday.“T

June 7, 2015

S. Korean finance minister calls for fundamental economic reform

The South Korean finance minister called for fundamental reform in the financial industry in order to make the sector drive the country's economic development, according to the ministry on Saturday.“This is the time for financial reform that transforms the basis of South Korea's financial industry,” Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said in a meeting with Lord Mayor Allen Yarrow of City of London on Friday (local time). “The British economy has made a second take-off after carrying out the Big Ba

June 6, 2015

Banks’ apartment loans surge, spiking concern

The nation’s seven major banks saw their housing-collateralized loans rapidly increase over the past two months amid the revitalized property market.Following the monthly growth of 6.8 trillion won ($6.1 billion) in housing-collateralized loans ― or loans for purchasing apartments ― in April following the March 12 key interest rate cut, commercial banks also reported a collective increase of more than 6 trillion won in May, their lending data showed Wednesday.The surge of more than 6 trillion wo

June 3, 2015

OECD lowers Korea’s growth outlook to 3%

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Wednesday it has revised its outlook on Korea’s 2015 GDP growth down to 3 percent from its earlier projection of 3.8 percent.In its initial outlook a year back, the Paris-based organization forecast that Korea’s growth would reach 4.2 percent this year. Following the cut by 0.4 percentage point in November 2014, it has again lowered its outlook by 0.8 percentage point.In its June 3 report, the OECD also revised its projection for the

June 3, 2015

Gasoline price nears yearly record

South Korea’s gasoline prices have been rising for 44 days amid rising oil prices and consumption, the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. said Wednesday. The nation’s average price of regular gasoline hit 1,572.40 won ($1.40) per liter on Tuesday, up 0.85 won from the previous day, according to Opinet, an online service provider of fuel prices run by KNOC. Market experts estimate that the price may reach a new record, replacing the Jan. 1 record, 1587.31 won.The average price of premium gasoline

June 3, 2015

FSC to lift barriers on financial group units

The financial authority has decided to push for lifting or easing the barriers between subsidiaries of financial groups as part its efforts to seek product competitiveness on the global stage.During a meeting of nine financial group executives on Tuesday, Financial Services Commission chairman Yim Jong-yong vowed to ease the regulatory policies for freer business environment and diversification of financial products.“The financial group system has contributed to the quantitative growth of the fi

June 2, 2015

‘No serious Korean slump this year’

Despite rising household debt and weak profitability, South Korea’s growth rate is expected to remain strong enough this year, in line with its recently improved credit rating, Moody’s Investors Service said Tuesday.“Korea’s economic growth rate is projected to hang in the 2.5-3.5 percent range, exceeding the government debt interest rate by the year 2020,” Tom Byrne, the company’s senior vice president, told reporters at a briefing.Household debt, though weighing heavy on growth, will not visib

June 2, 2015

Big-spending Chinese tourists, low interest rates lift up 'sin stocks'

"Sin stocks" of tobacco, alcohol and gambling companies have gained this year on the back of deep-pocketed Chinese tourists and low interest rates, data showed Tuesday. Thirty-six sin stocks related to tobacco, alcohol, gambling rose an average of 23.9 percent as of June 1 compared to the beginning of this year, according to the data compiled by market researcher at FnGuide. Shares of KT&G Corp., the state-run tobacco maker, increased 27.1 percent over the period after it posted stronger-than-ex

June 2, 2015

Magnetic cards no longer accepted at cash machines

Magnetic strip credit cards without the integrated circuit chips will be unusable at automated teller machines starting Tuesday.The Financial Supervisory Service said Monday that ATMs will no longer accept conventional credit cards that do not have gold or silver-colored chip on the front but just a black magnetic strip on the back.The financial authority has gradually been restricting the use of magnetic strip cards to prevent fraud.In March, it banned these old-style credit cards from taking c

June 1, 2015

Second-tier household loans hit record

Savings banks’ lending to the household sector has reached record levels, despite coming with much higher rates than loans from commercial banks.According to the Bank of Korea on Monday, mutual savings banks’ outstanding loans issued to households posted 11.3 trillion won ($10.2 billion) at the end of March, up 10 percent, or 1.02 trillion won, from the end of last year.This marked an all-time high with an on-year growth rate of 26.1 percent.After exceeding the 10 trillion won mark in December 2

June 1, 2015