Producer prices nearly flat in December

South Korea's producer prices remained almost unchanged in December as an increase of prices in the service sector was offset by falling prices of manufactured goods, central bank data showed Thursday. The producer price index, a major barometer of consumer inflation, stood at 113.22 last month, compared with 113.23 the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It is the first time since October 2020 that the figure marked an on-month decline. Compared wit

Jan. 20, 2022

Number of fake banknotes hits record low in 2021 amid pandemic

The number of fake South Korean banknotes touched a record low in 2021 due largely to the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank said Wednesday. The number of counterfeit banknotes found in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 176 last year, down 96 from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the lowest tally since the BOK began releasing such data in 1998. The number of fake bills has renewed record lows for four years running. The drop was mainly due to a decline

Jan. 19, 2022

Housing prices to further stabilize on monetary tightening: finance minister

Housing prices are expected to further stabilize due largely to the central bank's rate hikes and the Federal Reserve's push for faster monetary tightening, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday. Hong also voiced concerns that home prices in some regions could show signs of unstable movements due to presidential election candidates' campaign pledges on large-scale development. "Housing prices have recently stabilized," Hong said at a government meeting on the housing market. H

Jan. 19, 2022

Staying in business for 5 years difficult for startups, self-employed: data

SEJONG -- A large portion of startups and the self-employed failed in less than five years while suffering from fears of possible financial insolvency due to heavy debt, data from Statistics Korea and credit rating firm NICE showed Tuesday. Their unstable status was found to have started years before COVID-19 hit the nation. According to Statistics Korea, the median individual startup stayed in business for just 2.6 years. The journal in which it was published conducted research on the operatio

Jan. 18, 2022

S. Korea's instant meals market skyrockets 145% over 4 years

The South Korean market of instant meals jumped more than 145 pct in 2020 from four years earlier on the increased number of convenience stores and the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Shipments of ready-to-eat items, known as home meal replacement (HMR) products in South Korea, came to 2.01 trillion won ($1.7 billion) in 2020, up a whopping 145.3 percent from 2016, according to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food T

Jan. 18, 2022

23 shippers fined W96.2b for collusion on freight rates

South Korea's antitrust regulator said Tuesday it has decided to impose a combined fine of 96.2 billion won ($80.7 million) on 23 Korean and foreign shippers for their 15-year-long collusion to fix freight rates. Since 2018, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has been looking into allegations that the country's top shipper, HMM Co., and 22 local and foreign shipping lines colluded to fix higher freight rates for Southeast Asian sea routes. The shippers -- 12 South Korean and 11 foreign -- collude

Jan. 18, 2022

ABS issuance down 22% in 2021

The issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) in South Korea shrank 22 percent on-year in 2021 due to declined sales of government-led mortgage securities, data showed Tuesday. The ABS issued last year were valued at 61.7 trillion won ($51.8 billion), down 17.4 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). ABS refer to securities based on such assets as mortgages, auto loans, credit-card receivables and student loans. The decline stemmed

Jan. 18, 2022

Finance Minister vows to raise accuracy in tax revenue

SEJONG -- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has expressed his commitment to raising accuracy and transparency in generating figures on tax revenue, reiterating his apology for the government’s excess revenue beyond its earlier estimate. In his meeting with reporters on Monday, Hong said the Finance Ministry would “focus on raising transparency (in operation and forecast of tax revenue) as well as revising the calculating system.” If the coming calculation

Jan. 17, 2022

Number of self-employed falls by 18,000 in 2021

SEJONG -- The number of self-employed workers declined by 18,000 in South Korea last year, despite improvement in employment indices, state data showed Monday. Self-employed workers refers to non-salaried people who operate businesses without hiring employees or do so with several employees, mostly less than five. The country has a dominant portion of self-employed people engaging in sectors such as food service, lodging, wholesale and retail. According to Statistics Korea, the tally for self-

Jan. 17, 2022

Finance chief calls for stern actions against property-related tax evasion

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki called Monday for stern actions against tax evasion related to real estate deals as he renewed the government's commitment to stabilizing the housing market this year. Hong made the remarks during his meeting with the chiefs of the country's four major agencies under the finance ministry -- the National Tax Service (NTS), the Korea Customs Service, the Public Procurement Service, and Statistics Korea. "As this year is an important turning point in stabilizing

Jan. 17, 2022

Banks expected to pause in toughening household loan controls in Q1: survey

Banks in South Korea are expected to take a wait-and-see attitude in their lending policy during the first quarter after significantly toughening loan controls for months in line with the government's push to rein in household debt. According to the poll of 17 banks and other financial institutions by the Bank of Korea, the index measuring the banks' attitude toward home-backed and unsecured loans came to zero and minus six, respectively, for the January-March period. The figures were higher t

Jan. 17, 2022

40% of self-employed consider biz closure amid pandemic: survey

Four out of 10 self-employed people in South Korea are considering closing their businesses due to sluggish sales amid the long-enforced strict social distancing rules during the coronavirus pandemic, a survey showed Sunday. According to the survey of 500 people operating restaurants, retail and other service businesses by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), a major business lobby group, 40.8 percent said that they are considering discontinuing their operations. Of them, 28.2 percent ci

Jan. 16, 2022

Extra budget of W14 trillion planned for microbusiness owners

SEJONG -- The Ministry of Economy and Finance has unveiled its policy to draw up a supplementary budget worth 14 trillion won ($11.7 billion), most of which will be used to support small business owners including the self-employed. Under constitutional government in Korea since 1948, this will mark the second time a supplementary budget bill has been submitted to the National Assembly in January. This first case was conducted in January 1951 during the inter-Korean War. In a news briefing at G

Jan. 14, 2022

BOK raises rate to pre-pandemic level, hints more rate hikes to come

South Korea’s central bank on Friday raised its base rate by 25 basis points to 1.25 percent, returning it to the level before the pandemic started, with its chief hinting at additional hikes. As a result of its first rate-setting meeting of the year, the Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board delivered its third pandemic-era rate hike, following its previous 25 basis point rate hikes in August and November, respectively. The move in August ended more than a year of record-low inter

Jan. 14, 2022

Tighter virus curbs to hamper recovery in domestic demand: finance ministry

The South Korean economy is on a recovery track on robust exports, but the spike in COVID-19 cases and strengthened social distancing rules are feared to hurt domestic demand, the finance ministry said Friday. Amid the fast spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant, external economic uncertainty has persisted as global supply chain bottlenecks have deepened and the Federal Reserve is ramping up a shift in its monetary policy, the ministry said in its monthly economic assessment report, called the

Jan. 14, 2022

Young Koreans may be left with no pension

South Koreans born after 1990 will not be able to claim their state pension if an overhaul of the current pension system is not carried out swiftly, a Seoul-based think tank said Thursday. With the nation’s state pension age remaining relatively low compared to other major economies and the lackluster amount of money being funneled into the fund, those set to receive the pension from 2055 will likely fail in claiming their contributions, a report by the Korea Economic Research Institute s

Jan. 13, 2022

Korea ranks 32nd of 38 OECD members in Q3 growth

SEJONG -- South Korea was found to have lagged far behind major countries in the latest economic growth, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed Thursday. According to the French-based organization, Korea’s gross domestic product grew 0.3 percent -- as a provisional figure -- in the third quarter of 2021, compared to the previous quarter. This placed Asia’s fourth largest-economy at No. 32 of the total 38 OECD members in the quarterly GDP growth,

Jan. 13, 2022

Foreign purchases of Korean securities at 12-yr high in 2021

Foreign investors' net purchase of South Korean securities was the biggest in 12 years last year due largely to their buying spree of local bonds, central bank data showed Thursday. Foreigners bought a net $38.71 billion worth of Korean securities last year, sharply up from $3.47 billion the previous year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the largest figure since 2009, when the corresponding figure came to $42.2 billion. Last year, foreigners sold Korean stocks to

Jan. 13, 2022

Delinquency ratio on banks' loans edges up in November

The delinquency ratio on loans extended by banks in South Korea inched up in November from a month earlier, the financial watchdog said Thursday. The rate for banks' won-denominated loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.25 percent as of end-November, up 0.01 percentage point from a month earlier, according to preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the November figure was down 0.09 percentage point, it showed. The ratio was measured ba

Jan. 13, 2022

Banks' household loans dip in Dec. amid rate hike, tight lending rules

South Korean banks' household loans declined in December due to the central bank's rate hike and tight lending rules, data from the Bank of Korea (BOK) showed Thursday. Outstanding bank loans to local households had come to 1,060.7 trillion won ($982 billion) as of the end of last year, down 200 billion won from the previous month, according to the BOK. The December reading compared with a 2.9 trillion-won on-month gain in November. It marked the first on-month decline for any December since

Jan. 13, 2022