Koreans’ use of Internet banking up 9.5% in Q1

The use of Internet banking in South Korea accelerated in the first quarter from three months earlier as more people conducted financial transactions online, the central bank said Thursday.Online banking transactions reached an average of 45.23 million per day in the January-March period, up 9.5 percent from the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea. The first-quarter data also showed a daily average of 33.18 trillion won ($28.43 billion) being sent online, a gain of 0.5 percent compa

May 17, 2012

Credit card spending up 15.9% in April

South Korea’s credit card spending jumped 15.9 percent in April from a year earlier due to modest improvements in domestic economic conditions, a credit association said Thursday.Purchases made with credit cards totaled 42.9 trillion won ($36.7 billion) last month, up 6.6 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Credit Finance Association. Compared with the previous month, however, products bought with plastic, which include credit, debit and prepaid cards, dipped 0.09 percent.The soli

May 17, 2012

Local firms’ overseas direct investment jumps in Q1

South Korean companies’ overseas direct investment soared 18.7 percent on-year to $10.98 billion in the first quarter of this year as firms beefed up their operations abroad, the government said Wednesday.The total is the fifth-largest quarterly overseas direct investment since such data tracking began in 1980, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said. A record $18.09 billion was recorded in the second quarter of last year.“There has generally been a steady rise in overseas direct investment in

May 17, 2012

SK Telecom raises $318m in Swiss franc-denominated bonds

SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile carrier, has successfully raised funds in the Swiss bond market, despite Europe’s economic woes.The company said that it issued Swiss franc-denominated bonds worth CHF 300 million ($318 million), with an annual interest rate of 1.75 percent at a maturity of 5 years.The fund-raising was part of plans to seek low-cost capital sources and repay its debt, it said. The company’s outstanding debt stood at 11.6 trillion won at the end of 2011, according to financial s

May 17, 2012

Fed: Several members could support further easing

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Federal Reserve policymakers are open to further efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy if growth falters or threats escalate.Minutes of the central bank’s April 24-25 meeting released Wednesday stated that “several members” thought additional Fed support could be needed if the recovery lost momentum or if the risks to the economy became great enough.The minutes did not spell out what circumstances would trigger further Fed efforts to lower interest rates to boost the economy. B

May 17, 2012

Shares gain on technical rebound

South Korean stocks gained 0.26 percent Thursday on a modest technical rebound from the previous session’s tumble triggered by mounting Greek and eurozone woes, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index picked up 4.71 points to 1,845.24, after falling for six straight sessions. Trading volume was light at 434 million shares worth 5.58 trillion won ($4.78 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 449 to 382.“The bourse recovered b

May 17, 2012

Korea needs to boost economic vigor: minister

South Korea should seek to resuscitate its economic vitality and plot a policy of long-term sustainable growth to counter mounting global financial uncertainty, the top economic policymaker said Wednesday.Minister of Strategy and Finance Bahk Jae-wan told a weekly meeting of economic officials that anti-austerity election results in European countries such as Greece have fueled financial market jitters.“To effectively cope with such developments, the country must take steps to ensure long-term e

May 16, 2012

Korea’s jobless rate falls to 3.5% in April

South Korea’s jobless rate decelerated in April thanks mainly to more positions created in the service sector, a government report showed Wednesday.The jobless rate stood at 3.5 percent last month, down from 3.7 percent a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea. Last month’s tally also represents a drop from a jobless rate of 3.7 percent reached in March.A total of 455,000 jobs were added to payrolls in April with 24.75 million people employed in the country overall, the report

May 16, 2012

Seven banks fined for forcing borrowers to buy extra services

The nation’s top financial regulator on Wednesday slapped seven banks with fines of up to 50 million won ($42,000) each for making borrowers purchase financial products to have their loan applications approved. The seven banks were found to have sold financial products such as deposits and insurances worth 33 billion won in exchange for issuing loans between Sept. 26, 2009 and June 30, 2011, the Financial Supervisory Service said. “The banks failed to establish or run internal control systems to

May 16, 2012

Stocks dive on European economic woes, Apple’s Elpida chip orders

Volatility likely to increase unless EU resolves crisis: analystsSeoul stocks took a nosedive Wednesday amid increasing concerns over the European debt crisis, driving foreign investors to sell and seek safer investment assets such as the U.S. dollar and gold, analysts said.Also, the news that Apple is likely to decrease its DRAM memory chip orders from Samsung Electronics, Korea’s biggest blue chip traded on the Seoul market, increased downward pressure on Korean stocks. The benchmark KOSPI fin

May 16, 2012

Shares drop 0.77 percent on mounting eurozone woes

South Korean stocks sank 0.77 percent on Tuesday due to mounting European fiscal uncertainties that can destabilize the global economy, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI gave up 14.77 points to 1,898.96, extending its losing streak to five sessions. Trading volume was moderate at 510 million shares worth 5.10 trillion won ($4.41 billion), with losers clearly outpacing gainers 616 to 225.“The drop in the bourse is directly linked to growing concern

May 15, 2012

Import price gains hit two-year low in April

South Korea’s import prices rose at their slowest clip in more than two years in April mainly due to a drop in the cost of refined petroleum and nonferrous metal products, the central bank said Tuesday.In local currency terms, import prices gained just 1.7 percent on-year in April, slowing from a 3.5 percent on-year gain in March, according to the Bank of Korea.Last month’s figure marks the lowest on-year gain since March 2010, when import prices contracted 4.3 percent from a year earlier, the c

May 15, 2012

KDB urges parliament to approve state guarantee of its debts

The National Assembly should approve the state guarantee of the Korea Development Bank’s debts in June for the bank’s initial public offering, said Chu Woo-sik, senior deputy president of KDB Financial Group.“If the IPO is not done, the government’s overseas strategies may encounter problems and prices of government bonds or the national credibility could be negatively influenced,” said Chu on Tuesday at a press conference in central Seoul. “As the local law for the privatization of KDB was crea

May 15, 2012

National Pension to seek larger Chinese investment quota

South Korea’s National Pension Service, the country’s biggest investor, plans to seek approval to buy more yuan-denominated Chinese stocks after using up the initial quota of $100 million it received in March. The $316 billion pension fund plans to use that allotment by September and will pick two managers “soon” to handle the investments, Chairman Jun Kwang-woo said in an interview in Seoul on Monday. The fund also aims to expand investments to Chinese bonds and so-called alternative investment

May 15, 2012

Governor eyes more cuts as California deficit swells

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) ― California’s sputtering economic recovery is putting a heavier-than-expected drag on state tax revenue, leading Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday to propose deep budget cuts across an array of government services and warn again that even more cuts are ahead if voters reject his tax-hike initiative in November. Brown’s latest budget plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 proposes $8.3 billion in spending cuts to close a revised deficit of $15.7 billion deficit, an amou

May 15, 2012

Spain urges Greece to form government fast

MADRID (AP) ― Spain got caught up in the uncertainty surrounding the European single currency and the electoral stalemate in Greece Monday as it saw its borrowing costs rise and stock prices fall at alarming rates.The country’s foreign minister issued an urgent appeal Monday to the rival political parties in Athens to form a government quickly and warned that the survival of the single currency project was at stake.“The best thing Greece can do for its own survival and for the survival of Europe

May 15, 2012