Overseas securities investment hits new high in H1

South Koreans' overseas securities investment soared to a record high in the first half of the year on brisk stock purchases, data showed Monday. Local investors' transactions of overseas securities were valued at $142.4 billion in the January-June period, up 63.4 percent from the second half of 2019, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). The figure marks the highest half-year tally since data tracking began in 2011 and accounts for nearly 83 percent of last year'

July 20, 2020

Employment rate for 40-somethings hits 21-year low amid pandemic

SEJONG -- The employment rate for people in their 40s in South Korea hit a 21-year low in June as the coronavirus pandemic hammered job markets, data showed Monday. According to the data from the nation's statistics agency, the employment rate for 40-somethings stood at 76.9 percent last month, marking the lowest rate since June 1999. An official at Statistics Korea attributed the decline to lackluster performances in the wholesale and retail sectors, which were hit hard by the coronavirus

July 20, 2020

S. Korea's household debt highest in world in comparison with GDP

South Korean households' debt is one of the world's highest when compared to the country's economic size while its debt grew at one of the highest rates in the first three months of the year, a report showed Monday. As of end-March, South Korea's household debt came to 97.9 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), the highest among 39 countries reviewed by the US-based Institute of International Finance (IIF). South Korea was followed by Britain with 84.4 percent, Hong Kong at 82.5 percen

July 20, 2020

IBs maintain steady growth outlook for S. Korea

Major global investment banks (IBs) maintained their revised-up growth outlook for South Korea's economy, a report showed Sunday, despite a gloomier outlook recently portrayed by the country's central bank. In June, nine global investment banks forecast the South Korean economy to contract 0.4 percent from a year earlier in 2020, unchanged from their estimate tallied in May, according to the report from the Korea Center for International Finance (KCIF).  In May, the nine investment ban

July 19, 2020

Inter-family asset donation rises in 2019 to bypass inheritance tax: NTS

The amount of lineally donated assets marked over 30 trillion won ($25 billion), while the number of cases amounting to more than 100 million won also rose in 2019, the country’s tax agency said Friday. The National Tax Service made an early publication on 95 selected articles of data on national taxes -- which includes value added taxes, corporate taxes, inheritance and gift taxes. The early publication is being released biannually and its statistical yearbook is slated to be released i

July 17, 2020

S. Korea asks Canada to support Seoul minister's bid for WTO chief

SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister on Friday asked his Canadian counterpart to support a Seoul minister's bid to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki held telephone talks with Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau earlier in the day during which Hong emphasized South Korea's role as an arbitrator among WTO members. Morneau said Canada will "seriously review" Hong's request, the ministry said in a statement. L

July 17, 2020

BOK, KDB to soon start purchasing corporate bonds

The Bank of Korea (BOK) and state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) will soon start purchasing corporate bonds, including low-rated debts, amid the pandemic-caused slump, the central bank said Friday. The scheme was proposed in late May when KDB began purchasing such bonds from non-financial firms "in advance." The BOK on Friday approved an 8 trillion won ($6.64 billion) loan to a special purpose vehicle (SPV), to be set up by KDB. "The SPV is set to start purchasing subprime c

July 17, 2020

Consumption shows signs of rebound, but export slump continues: finance ministry

South Korea's finance ministry said Friday that local consumption showed signs of a rebound, but the coronavirus pandemic continued to stagnate exports. In a monthly report, called the Green Book, the Ministry of Economy and Finance painted a somewhat positive picture of the economy, compared with its June report.    "Domestic consumption showed signs of improvement and job losses have narrowed, but declines in exports and industrial output continued as COVID-19 weakened

July 17, 2020

S. Korea’s economy faces tipping point as COVID-19 pandemic persists

Since confirming its first domestic case of COVID-19 infection on Jan. 20, South Korea’s economy has been on a roller-coaster ride -- hitting its low point in April-June -- but appears to be bouncing back now. Concerns are now mounting that the persisting or widening gap between its financial indexes and the actual economic sentiment in the market may be signaling a watershed moment for Asia’s fourth-largest economy in the post-coronavirus era. During the past six months, the K

July 16, 2020

BOK keeps interest rate on hold at record-low, projects bleaker GDP growth

In a largely anticipated move, South Korea’s central bank on Thursday decided to hold its policy rate at a record-low of 0.5 percent while casting bleaker projections for this year’s gross domestic product growth rate. The Bank of Korea’s seven-member monetary policy board unanimously voted to keep the rate frozen at the rate they had slashed by 25 basis points in May to minimize economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The decision in May came two months after the boa

July 16, 2020

Full text of BOK statement on monetary policy decision in July

The following is the full text of the Bank of Korea's statement on its monetary policy decision. The central bank's monetary policy board voted Thursday to keep the base interest rate steady at 0.5 percent. Monetary Policy Decision The Monetary Policy Board of the Bank of Korea decided today to leave the Base Rate unchanged at 0.50% for the intermeeting period. Currently available information suggests that the global economy has started to rebound moderately from the sharp contraction, as e

July 16, 2020

S. Korea to invest W73.4tr in green projects as part of 'New Deal' scheme

South Korea said Thursday it will spend 73.4 trillion won ($60 billion) in the energy segment in line with its ambitious "New Deal" plan meant to transform the nation's fossil fuel-reliant economy into an eco-friendly one. The projects could create around 659,000 jobs and help the country overcome the COVID-19 crisis and prepare for the post-coronavirus era to be led by the fourth industrial revolution, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. South Korea is reeling

July 16, 2020

BOK keeps rate steady, warns of sharper-than-expected contraction

As widely expected, the Bank of Korea (BOK) kept the policy rate frozen at 0.5 percent Thursday to gauge the impact of previous rate cuts but warned that Asia's fourth-largest economy would contract at a sharper-than-expected clip amid the prolonged pandemic-caused slump. The BOK decision to stand pat follows two rate reductions. The central bank sent the policy rate to the record low level on May 28, about two months after it delivered its first emergency rate reduction in over a decade, slas

July 16, 2020

6 months after virus outbreak, S. Korean economy gears up for big jump

SEJONG -- In the six months after the new coronavirus was first reported in South Korea, the virus outbreak has battered the nation's exports and depressed local consumption, with health experts warning that the highly contagious disease may not disappear in the coming months. The pandemic has brought the global economy to a temporary standstill, dealing a severe blow to the nation's export-reliant economy. New waves of infections around the world are expected to delay the pace of recovery.

July 16, 2020

S. Korea's energy imports sharply down in April amid pandemic

South Korea's imports of energy products nearly halved in April due mainly to the falling global price of crude oil amid the new coronavirus pandemic, which has suspended business activities around the globe, data showed Thursday. The country's imports of energy reached $6.47 billion last month, down 41.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Energy Economics Institute. Due to the sharp decrease in demand, energy-related products accounted for only 17.1 per

July 16, 2020

Job market contraction persists, unemployment rate hits record-high in June

Reeling under the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 fallout, South Korea shed over 350,000 jobs in June, marking the fourth consecutive monthly fall in employment for the first time since the global financial crisis, government data showed Wednesday. The number of people unemployed and the unemployment rate hit record highs, weighed down by the massive contraction in service sectors. According to the monthly employment trend compiled by Statistics Korea, the number of employed people across

July 15, 2020

Ministries in discord over lifting construction ban on Seoul’s greenbelts

Agencies handling the Moon Jae-in administration’s ambitious measures to cool down the heated real estate market revealed Wednesday that they are not all on the same page over the possibility of lifting the construction ban in greenbelt areas. In an interview with local news outlet MBC on Tuesday, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government is open to the possibility of lifting the construction ban in certain designated greenbelt zones to resolve the nation

July 15, 2020

S. Korea to expand coverage of employment insurance to self-employed people

SEJONG -- South Korea plans to expand the coverage of its employment insurance program to self-employed people, as part of efforts to boost social safety nets in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a senior official said Wednesday. Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom, in an interview with Yonhap News TV, said the labor ministry has started initial work to expand the insurance's coverage to self-employed people. Kim made the remarks a day after the government announced details of expanding

July 15, 2020

FDI pledges to S. Korea drop 22% in H1 amid pandemic

SEJONG -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to South Korea dipped 22.4 percent on-year in the first half of the year as the global virus pandemic limited trades across borders amid a global economic slump, data showed Wednesday. South Korea received $7.66 billion worth of FDI commitments from January to June, falling from $9.87 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The country posted a record high FDI in the same period of 2018 at

July 15, 2020

S. Korea's export prices increase for 2nd month in June

South Korea's export prices rose for the second consecutive month in June on rising international oil costs, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, rose 0.3 percent in June from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It represents the second straight on-month gain. In May, won-based export prices increased 0.6 percent from the prior month. From a year earlier, however, the index fell 6

July 15, 2020