Govt. to keep growth of household debt to below 8.2% in 2018

The government plans to keep the growth rate of household debt to below 8.2 percent this year by taking a set of steps to curb excessive lending, the nation's top financial regulator said Monday.Outstanding household debt stood at 1,450.9 trillion won ($1.35 trillion) in the fourth-quarter of last year, up 8.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. It marked the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2015.Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku told

April 16, 2018

Finance minister urges quick passage of extra budget bill

South Korea's chief economic policymaker on Monday urged the National Assembly to quickly approve a proposed extra budget bill that is urgently needed to tackle the country's chronic youth unemployment problem.Early this month, the government unveiled a set of measures, including bolder financial and tax incentives and the use of a 3.9 trillion-won ($3.64 billion) extra budget, to respond to the high jobless rate among young people. The government submitted the supplementary budget proposal to t

April 16, 2018

[Feature] More Korean workers economically dependent on parents

South Korean college graduates in their mid-and late 20s are finding it increasingly difficult to land a job. Despite several government-led measures to increase youth employment over the past decade, a high proportion of young job seekers are still getting rejection slips from enterprises.As a result, those who have no regular income often rely their parents even after they turn 30.Latest polls show that more and more Koreans in their 20s and 30s are scrapping plans for marriage.More serious is

April 15, 2018

Exports of Korean cigarettes drop on tax hike in key markets

Exports of cigarettes, which rank top on the list of export items tracked by South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry, plunged during the first quarter of this year. Cigarette exports totaled $210.6 million from January to March, marking a 28.3 percent drop from the same period last year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Sunday. The exports were hit hard by the United Arab Emirates’ imposition of a 100 percent special consumption ta

April 15, 2018

S. Korea discusses post-sanctions economic cooperation with Sudan

South Korea and Sudan held a high-level policy consultation meeting on Thursday to discuss strengthening economic cooperation in the wake of the lifting of American sanctions on Sudan last year, the foreign ministry here said.Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Yun Kang-hyeon welcomed the lifting of 20-year-old sanctions and discussed cooperation with Sudan's Undersecretary Abdel-ghani Elnaim, according to the ministry.In October 2017, the U.S. government dropped the economic sanctions,

April 12, 2018

Finance minister tells US Seoul irrelevant to currency manipulation

South Korea’s chief economic policymaker on Thursday underlined to his US counterpart that the country does not fall under the currency manipulator list, while vowing to keep control over its own foreign currency policies, according to officials.In a 15-minute phone conversation with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin earlier in the day, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon contended that given the trade and account balance figures, Seoul does not qualify for a curren

April 12, 2018

Public institutions to buy W43b worth of products from SMEs

South Korean public institutions signed a deal to buy some 43 billion won ($40 million) worth of products made by small and medium-sized enterprises this year as part of Seoul's efforts to encourage the growth of smaller companies, the government said. Six public organizations, including the Korea Land & Housing Corp. and the Korea Electric Power Co., signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to buy new products made by SMEs, the ministry said.If companies a

April 12, 2018

BOK keeps policy rate unchanged at 1.5% for April

South Korea's central bank on Thursday held its key rate steady for April as Asia's fourth-largest economy is experiencing low inflationary pressure and a weaker pace of economic recovery.In a widely expected move, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea voted to keep the policy rate unchanged at 1.5 percent, extending its wait-and-see stance to five months.In November last year, South Korea's central bank adjusted up the key rate for the first time in more than six years, citing signs of

April 12, 2018

Data deepen skepticism over income-led growth

A slump in private consumption and worsening unemployment are raising questions about the relevance of the Moon Jae-in administration’s income-led growth policy.According to data released by the Bank of Korea last week, the ratio of personal consumption expenditures to the country’s gross domestic product stood at 48.1 percent last year, the lowest since related data began being compiled in 1970.The ratio, which hovered above 70 percent in the 1970s, slid to 53.8 percent in 2000, 49.

April 11, 2018

Unemployment rate hits 17-year high

South Korea’s unemployment rate in March hit is highest level in 17 years, amid a persisting slump in the construction industry and slowdown in population, data showed Wednesday.The number of employed people reached 26.55 million last month, up 112,000 from a year earlier, according to the report released by Statistics Korea. The on-month climb, though slightly higher from the previous month’s record of 104,000, continued to linger in the range of 100,000 for two consecutive months.T

April 11, 2018

Korea's household lending increases at fastest pace in 4 months in March

South Korea's household lending by banks rose at the fastest clip in four months in March on increased home transactions ahead of the implementation of government-led measures to cool down the overheated real estate market, central bank data showed Wednesday.Outstanding household loans from lenders came to 776.3 trillion won ($728.6 billion) as of the end of March, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.The total marked a 4.3 trillion won increase from a month earlier, the largest on-month g

April 11, 2018

State pension fund logs losses in stock investment in Q1

South Korea's national pension operator reported losses in its stock investment in the first quarter of this year, due mainly to the poor performance by major local equities amid unfavorable external conditions, a market research firm said Wednesday.The value of 302 company stocks in which the National Pension Service holds more than a 5 percent stake came to 121.22 trillion won ($113.92 billion) as of the end of March, down 2.01 percent from the end of 2017, according to the data by FnGuide Inc

April 11, 2018

Korea's jobless rate rises to 4.5% in March

SEJONG -- South Korea's jobless rate moved up slightly in March due to a rise in unemployment in the retail and educational service sectors, government data showed Wednesday.The unemployment rate stood at 4.5 percent last month, up 0.4 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.The seasonally adjusted jobless rate also rose to 4 percent in March, from 3.6 percent a year earlier, the data showed.The number of employed people reached 26.55 million in

April 11, 2018

Brokerages urged to bolster investor protection, internal controls

The head of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Tuesday called for brokerages to strengthen protection for investors and internal control, in the wake of chaos over a dividend payment error at Samsung Securities Co.At a meeting with the heads of 17 brokerages, FSS Gov. Kim Ki-sik said they must conduct reviews of their internal control mechanisms to prevent such errors from happening again and urged them to come up with fundamental measures to regain investor confidence and strengthen eth

April 10, 2018

16 pct of Seoul apartments traded over W900m in Q1

About 16 percent of apartments bought and sold in Seoul during the first quarter of the year were expensive real estate.Out of the 24,606 Seoul apartments traded between January and March, 3,921 units were worth over 900 million won ($841,000), according to statistics released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Monday. It posted a rapid on-year increase. During the same period last year, only 11.5 percent of apartments bought and sold were worth over 900 million won.  Mea

April 9, 2018

[Newsmaker] FSS chief’s integrity dispute burdens Blue House

Mounting criticisms against the integrity of the newly appointed financial market watchdog chief is adding extra burden on the Moon Jae-in administration, which has vowed to eradicate “accumulated evil practices” and to restore trust in the nation’s public functions.Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Kim Ki-sik found himself hard pressed Monday as opposition political parties called for his ouster, taking issue with his past overseas business trips sponsored by financial instit

April 9, 2018

Strengthening won weighs on Korea’s exports

Concerns are growing over the negative impact of the strengthening won on Korea’s exports, with expectations also being raised that a rise in the value of the currency will help boost investment and consumption.The value of the won gained 1.16 percent against the US dollar over the past two weeks to close at 1,069.6 won per dollar in the Seoul foreign exchange market Friday.It marked the second-steepest appreciation among the currencies of Group of 20 major economies following Mexico&rsquo

April 9, 2018

Finance minister seeks cooperation from smaller firms to create jobs

South Korea's chief economic policy maker on Monday sought cooperation from smaller firms to create quality jobs to reduce the country's high youth unemployment rate.Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon made the remark during a meeting with executives of small and medium-sized enterprises held in Seoul."We hope the planned support for SMEs will lead to job creation beyond the current level of employment," Kim said, referring to the government's proposed extra budget. Early this month, the go

April 9, 2018

Rise in minimum wage fueling inflationary pressure

The sharp rise in the country's minimum wage this year is fueling inflationary pressure and concerns of public charge hikes going forward that can increase the burden on ordinary people, market watchers said Sunday.The government marked up the minimum wage for all workers by 16.4 percent in 2018 to 7,530 won ($7.04) from 6,470 in 2017 as part of a broader move by the incumbent Moon Jae-in administration to reduce the pay gap between workers and fuel private consumption that can act as a growth e

April 8, 2018

Top 10 chaebol make up nearly 80% of KOSPI net profits

Korea's top 10 business groups accounted for 79.1 percent of all net profits generated by companies listed on the country's main stock exchange in 2017, the local bourse operator said Sunday.According to the Korea Exchange, of the 533 companies checked that settled their accounts in December, profits by the 62 affiliates belonging to the country's 10 largest chaebol, or family-run conglomerates, totaled 90.6 trillion won ($84.7 billion), up 57.1 percent from the 57.6 trillion won tallied in 2016

April 8, 2018