S. Korea's exports dip 3.8% on-year in Oct.

South Korea's exports fell 3.8 percent on-year in October on fewer working days and the fallout of the new coronavirus outbreak, customs data showed Monday. The country's overseas shipments stood at $44.9 billion last month, compared with $46.6 billion the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The October tally snapped a brief rebound in September, when the country's exports rebounded for the first time in seven months by growing 7.3 percent on-year amid the COVI

Nov. 16, 2020

Loans to accommodation, food services sectors jump amid resurgence of virus

Loans to accommodation and food services sectors have jumped due to a recent resurgence of the novel coronavirus, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding loans to lodging and eating businesses totaled 71.1 trillion won ($64.2 billion) as of September, up 21.5 percent from a year ago, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The BOK measured the sectors' production index at 79.7 at the end of September, the lowest since February 2007. The index rebounded to 99.8 in July but beg

Nov. 16, 2020

Alcohol imports drop for 1st time in 10 years in 2019

South Korea's alcohol imports fell for the first time in 10 years in 2019 amid a boycott of Japanese beer due to a bilateral trade row, data showed Monday. South Korea's liquor imports came to 466,000 kiloliters in 2019, down 6 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and the local alcohol industry. It represents the first on-year decrease since 2009, shortly after the global financial crisis. Last year's decline was attributed mainly to a fall in i

Nov. 16, 2020

Hong calls for trade multilateralism, support for debt-ridden economies

South Korea‘s finance minister highlighted the need to promote free trade under multilateral regimes, while expressing support for assistance to debt-ridden developing economies during a G-20 meeting, his ministry said Saturday. “We need to revitalize global trade through multilateral trade systems,” Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said during the Extraordinary G-20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting held virtually on Friday. “Trade regulations ca

Nov. 14, 2020

S. Korea to extend anti-dumping duties on stainless steel bars

South Korea's trade commission on Friday made a preliminary decision to extend anti-dumping tariffs on stainless steel bars from a handful of nations for another three years. Under the decision, the commission will request that the finance ministry slap tariffs of 3.51 percent to 15.39 percent on imported stainless steel bars from Japan, India and Spain, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Stainless steel bars are utilized in making auto parts, medical instruments, constru

Nov. 13, 2020

S. Korea to stabilize kimchi-making costs

South Korea‘s vice finance minister said Friday the government will stabilize the cost to make kimchi by expanding supplies of major vegetables and ingredients.  “We are planning to extend the supply of vegetables in the market by employing either the government’s hoarded stocks for gimjang or those already purchased by local companies from agricultural farms under contract,” Kim Yong-beom, first vice minister of finance, said in a meeting with related officials to

Nov. 13, 2020

Regulator to tighten rules on overdrafts

Financial authorities will tighten rules on unsecured loans from later this month, as they seek to prevent people from borrowing excessively to buy homes or invest in stocks, officials said Friday. Effective Nov. 30, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) will stiffen loan limits for a home buyer to 40 percent of a property's value if the buyer's annual income exceeds 80 million won ($71,748) and holds unsecured loans worth more than 100 million won. If a person buys a home in a regulated a

Nov. 13, 2020

S. Korea's money supply grows at fast clip in September

South Korea's money supply continued to grow quickly in September as firms rushed to secure funds amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Friday. The country's M2 stood at 3,115.8 trillion won ($2.8 trillion) as of end-September, up 0.5 percent from August, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). From a year earlier, M2 surged 9.2 percent, the BOK said. A key economic indicator closely monitored by authorities, M2 is a measure of the money supply that count

Nov. 13, 2020

S. Korea eyes $2tr in trade by 2030

South Korea will seek to raise the value of its trade to $2 trillion by 2030 by pushing for the digitalization of its trade infrastructure, the industry ministry said Friday. South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, will also push to hike the number of small and medium-sized exporting companies to 200,000 by that year. The ministry unveiled the ambitious plan during an expanded trade strategy coordination meeting chaired by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun. "A structural innovation is ne

Nov. 13, 2020

Economic uncertainty persists amid global flare-up in coronavirus cases: finance ministry

SEJONG-- The South Korean economy is on a recovery path, but it faces lingering uncertainty amid a global resurgence in new coronavirus cases, the finance ministry said Friday. The Ministry of Economy and Finance said South Korea's exports are on a mild recovery track and the country's production, consumption and investment are improving. "While the service sector and the job market have seen recovery momentum being capped, the Korean economy faces continuing uncertainty amid the fast spr

Nov. 13, 2020

Global GDP to grow 5% in 2021, but COVID-19 risks to linger: KIEP

The global economy will grow 5 percent next year, but risks will linger from the coronavirus pandemic, a state-run South Korean think tank forecast Thursday. “The global economy is projected to grow 5 percent in 2021, which is 10.1 percentage points higher than this year’s forecast of a 5.1 percent contraction, as it will likely recover from the spread of COVID-19,” Kim Heung-chong, president of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, said at an annual press br

Nov. 12, 2020

Biz groups' inter-affiliate trading dips in 2019

Transactions among affiliates of South Korea's large business groups slightly fell in 2019 from a year earlier on tough regulations, the corporate watchdog said Thursday. The value of inter-affiliate transactions by 1,955 units of 64 large business groups amounted to 196.7 trillion won ($176.9 billion) last year, down 1.1 trillion won from 197.8 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC). But such deals accounted for 12.2 percent of all business contracts clinche

Nov. 12, 2020

Rice output at half-century low in 2020 on bad weather

South Korea's rice output fell to the lowest level in 52 years in 2020 as a record-long rainy season and typhoons in the summer hampered production, data showed Thursday. The country's rice production came to 3.51 million tons this year, down 6.4 percent from 3.74 million tons last year, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the lowest level since 1968, when South Korea produced 3.2 million tons of rice. It also marked the fourth straight year of the country's yearly r

Nov. 12, 2020

Recovery in job market weakened by protracted pandemic: vice finance minister

South Korea's vice finance minister said Thursday that recovery momentum in the job market appears to be losing steam amid the protracted new coronavirus outbreak, after the country reported the largest job loss in six months in October. The number of employed people reached 27.09 million last month, 421,000 fewer than a year earlier and marking the sharpest on-year decline since April, according to data from the statistics agency. "The country has seen the labor market recover somewhat s

Nov. 12, 2020

S. Korea, Indonesia discuss stronger bilateral trade

South Korea and Indonesia on Thursday agreed to cooperate in overcoming the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic by maintaining trade ties and improving the business environment. Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo met his Indonesian counterpart Bahlil Lahadalia in Seoul, sharing ideas on expanding trades and investment between the two nations, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy. The two also discussed improving the business environment for South Korean steel, che

Nov. 12, 2020

Banks' loan delinquency rate edges down in September

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans inched down in September from the previous month and remained stable, the financial watchdog said Thursday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.3 percent at the end of September, down 0.07 percentage point from August, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the bank loan delinquency rate was down 0.14 percentage point. The delinquency rate for corporate loan

Nov. 12, 2020

S. Korea's export prices fall for 3rd consecutive month in October

South Korea's export prices fell for the third straight month in October as oil costs declined and the local currency gained against the US dollar, central bank data showed Thursday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, dropped 2.6 percent in October from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the third consecutive month of on-month decline after the index rose for a third month in a row in July. Fro

Nov. 12, 2020

Online credit card spending jumps 35% on pandemic in Sept.

Online credit card spending in South Korea spiked more than 35 percent in September as consumers avoided going out due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, data showed Thursday. Online and telemarketing credit card purchases came to 10.29 trillion won ($9.2 billion) in September, up 35.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. It marks the first time for the monthly tally to surpass the 10 trillion won mark since December 2009 when the central bank began t

Nov. 12, 2020

KDI cuts 2021 growth outlook, citing sluggish domestic recovery

South Korea’s economy will contract 1.1 percent this year amid the COVID-19 fallout and rebound to 3.1 percent growth in 2021, state-run think tank Korea Development Institute said Wednesday. In its latest revision, KDI maintained its outlook for this year at its previous September figure but cut the prospect for next year’s growth by 0.4 percentage point, citing the slower-than-expected recovery pace of the domestic market. “Our economy is expected to expand 3.1 percent (

Nov. 11, 2020

S. Korea’s household debt surges at fast pace in Oct.

South Korea’s household debt extended by local banks surged at a rapid pace in October, gaining more than 10 trillion won ($9 billion) on-month, central bank data showed Wednesday, despite government vows to put a brake on the momentum. Outstanding bank loans extended to local households gained 10.6 trillion won on-month to 968.4 trillion won as of end-October, propelled by home-backed lending, according to the Bank of Korea. The gain is the highest for an October reading since

Nov. 11, 2020