Foreign investment banks raise 2021 growth outlook for S.Korea

Top foreign investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and HSBC, have upgraded South Korea’s growth outlook for this year to an average 3.4 percent, up by 0.1 percentage point from their previous estimate, a report released by the Korea Center for International Finance showed Thursday.  By end-December, two of nine investment banks surveyed in the report -- Credit Suisse and HSBC -- had revised their outlook upward by 0.7 percentage point and 0.5 percentage point to 3.6 per

Jan. 7, 2021

Finance Ministry vows to beef up monitoring of excess liquidity

Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom vowed on Thursday to strengthen monitoring on swelling of liquidity spilled over to the country’s asset markets amid concerns over the stock market’s sharp pandemic-era rally. Buoyed by fiscal stimulus and relief packages provided during the COVID-19 crisis management procedure, the abundant liquidity has flown into the stock and real estate markets to the point where the government is beginning to worry whether the real economy could catch up.

Jan. 7, 2021

S. Korea to invest over W250b in AI, software education in 2021

South Korea's ICT ministry said Thursday it will invest 262.6 billion won ($242 million) to foster education in artificial intelligence (AI) and software this year as part of the country's digital New Deal program that seeks to boost jobs in new tech industries. South Korea last year unveiled the digital New Deal, which aims to spend 58.2 trillion won on key tech investments, such as AI, to create around 900,000 jobs by 2025. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it plans to educate around 16,0

Jan. 7, 2021

Households' excess funds rise in Q3 amid pandemic

Excess funds held by South Korean households and nonprofit agencies rose in the third quarter of last year due mainly to an increase in stock investments, the central bank said Thursday. Net financial funds -- the value of financial assets minus financial liabilities -- held by local households and nonprofit organizations serving households amounted to 30.7 trillion won ($28.2 billion) in the July-September period, up from 16.6 trillion won a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the

Jan. 7, 2021

Exports of fishery goods down 7.4% in 2020 on pandemic fallout

South Korea's exports of fishery products moved down 7.4 percent on-year in 2020, data showed Thursday, as people around the globe refrained from dining out amid the new coronavirus pandemic, leading to weaker demand for tuna and other popular goods. Outbound shipments of fishery goods reached $2.3 billion last year, down from $2.5 billion posted in 2019, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The decrease was largely attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, whic

Jan. 7, 2021

S. Korea to focus on financial stability amid concerns over asset market boom

South Korea's vice finance minister vowed Thursday to strengthen financial stability this year amid concerns that idle money is excessively flowing into asset markets. Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom made the remarks amid mounting worries that only asset markets, such as property and stock markets, are booming even as economic slumps caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have continued. "Authorities are facing the task of closely managing liquidity that has sharply increased in the process

Jan. 7, 2021

Major foreign IBs revise up S. Korea's 2021 growth outlook

Major foreign investment banks (IBs) have slightly raised their forecasts for South Korea's economic growth for 2021 despite the coronavirus pandemic, a report showed Thursday. As of end-December, nine major global IBs, including Barclays and Goldman Sachs, forecast the South Korean economy to grow 3.4 percent this year, up 0.1 percentage point from their median outlook offered a month earlier, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance. Seven IBs -- Barclays, BoA-Me

Jan. 7, 2021

Government to spend over W26tr on housing stabilization

The government will spend over 26 trillion won ($23.9 billion) to develop new towns and build infrastructure in the first half of the year in a bid to curb soaring housing prices, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki unveiled detailed plans for a government-led 110 trillion won investment project program that will be carried out throughout the year by public agencies, state-run firms and private companies. “The investment project will center on housing s

Jan. 6, 2021

S. Korea has ‘no plans’ to raise fuel taxes, cut inheritance tax

South Korea’s Finance Ministry said Wednesday that it has no plans to raise taxes on gasoline and diesel this year, despite its vows to go carbon neutral by 2050, and hinted that it will likely maintain the inheritance tax at its current level. In a briefing on the revised taxation rules previously announced in July, Im Jae-hyun, a senior official at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said the government “currently has no plans to adjust the transportation-energy-environment tax

Jan. 6, 2021

FSC to ease regulations on financial firms to spur growth

South Korea’s top financial regulator has vowed to eliminate regulatory hurdles and outdated rules that hinder local financial companies from rolling out innovative services. “The year 2021 is a crucial time for the country as we need to overcome the economic fallout from COVID-19 and carry out future strategies for taking a lead in the post-COVID era,” Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang said during an online meeting on the future outlook and competitiv

Jan. 6, 2021

S. Korea to provide most of pandemic emergency handouts by Lunar New Year's holiday

South Korea plans to provide a huge chunk of its emergency handouts to smaller merchants hit hard by the new coronavirus outbreak by the Lunar New Year's holiday in early February, the finance minister said Wednesday. The country plans to provide 9.3 trillion won ($8.6 billion) in relief funds to small businesses stung by state-imposed shutdowns over virus cases and the self-employed reeling from the economic fallout of the pandemic. "The government will start to provide the emergency han

Jan. 6, 2021

S. Korea, Pakistan seek to broaden ties in economy, energy

South Korea and Pakistan agreed Wednesday to expand their bilateral economic ties in on-going energy projects in the South Asian nation. The two nations held the third round of the Korea-Pakistan Joint Trade Committee virtually, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, Seoul requested that Islamabad consider using South Korean consortiums in the planned construction of two hydroelectric power plants with a capacity of 470 megawatts (MW) and 215 MW, respectiv

Jan. 6, 2021

Imported car sales rise 4.5% in Dec. despite pandemic

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea rose 4.5 percent last December from a year earlier due to strong demand for German cars, an industry association said Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles climbed to 31,419 units last month from 30,072 a year earlier despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association (KAIDA) said in a statement. For the whole of 2020, foreign carmakers sold 274,859 autos, up 12 percent from 244,780 in the

Jan. 6, 2021

Exports of kimchi hit all-time high through Oct. amid pandemic

South Korea's exports of kimchi reached an all-time high in the first 10 months of 2020, data showed Wednesday, on the back of growing global demand for healthier foodstuffs amid the new coronavirus pandemic. Outbound shipments of kimchi over the January-October period of last year came to $119 million, rising 36.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). The export volume also set a fresh high of 32,000 tons during the ci

Jan. 6, 2021

S. Korea's FX reserves up for 9th straight month in December

South Korea's foreign reserves rose for the ninth straight month in December last year, supported by an increase in investment returns, central bank data showed Wednesday. The nation's foreign reserves came to a record high of $443.1 billion as of end-December, up $6.72 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, International Monetary Fund reserve positions, special drawing rights a

Jan. 6, 2021

BOK chief warns of bigger COVID-19 risks in 2021

South Korea’s monetary policy chief on Tuesday called for the nation to brace for potential risks stemming from the financial authorities’ decision last year to funnel massive liquidity into the market and extend loan forbearance periods, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We must focus on risk management and accelerating innovation, and debt issues and the excess flow of capital into the asset markets – which are the side effects of the coronavirus crisis – need to b

Jan. 5, 2021

Minister urges financial firms to funnel funds into new growth engines

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Tuesday called for banks and other financial firms to channel more funds into sectors like green cars and biotechnology to help the virus-hit economy come back strong. The country’s top economic policymaker underlined the importance of the financial industry’s role in helping the nation‘s economy rebound this year and moving toward becoming a pacesetting economy. “There is abundant liquidity in the market. But inflows into future growth

Jan. 5, 2021

Home prices rise at fastest rate in 9 years in 2020

Home prices in South Korea rose at the fastest pace in nine years in 2020 despite a set of government measures to rein them in, data showed Tuesday. Housing prices in Asia's fourth-largest economy gained 5.36 percent last year from a year earlier amid low interest rates and ample market liquidity, according to the data from the Korea Real Estate Board. It represents the steepest on-year increase since the 6.14 percent hike recorded in 2011. Home prices in the South Korean capital of Seoul exp

Jan. 5, 2021

Rapidly aging population raises alarm over tax revenues: study

If the aging population continues to rise, the ratio of value-added taxes to the nation’s gross domestic product will sharply drop, raising calls for the government’s tax rises to meet the costs of supporting the economy, a recent study showed Tuesday. A value-added tax is a type of indirect tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services by the government, with the purpose of raising funds to operate public programs, including construction of social infrastructures or soci

Jan. 5, 2021

S. Korea's farm goods exports hit record high in 2020

South Korea's exports of agriculture products reached an all-time high of $7.57 billion last year on the back of strong demand for kimchi and processed foods, data showed Tuesday. The record amount represents a 7.7 percent rise from the previous year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. By category, outbound shipments of fresh products rose 3.4 percent on-year to $1.43 billion. Those of processed goods also increased 8.8 percent to hit $6.14 billi

Jan. 5, 2021