S. Korea vows to support global food supply chains amid pandemic

South Korea has expressed its intention to support global efforts to maintain global food supply chains amid the new coronavirus pandemic, the agriculture ministry said Wednesday. Agricultural Minister Kim Hyeon-soo participated in a videoconference of the G-20 agricultural ministers a day earlier to discuss the global response against the COVID-19 pandemic in the food segment, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. During the meeting, South Korea called for the glo

April 22, 2020

Korea's producer prices dip 0.8% in March

South Korea's producer prices fell 0.8 percent from a month earlier in March due to tumbling international oil prices, central bank data showed Wednesday. The producer price index for all commodities and services came to 102.89 last month, compared with 103.74 in February, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). From the same month a year earlier, the figure marked a 0.5 percent decrease. Producer prices serve as a key barometer of future inflation. South Korea's consumer

April 22, 2020

Credit card loans soar 26% due to virus in March

Credit card loans in South Korea surged nearly 26 percent on-year in March as cash-strapped people rushed to borrow from card firms amid a prolonged coronavirus outbreak, industry data showed Wednesday. New loans extended by seven credit card firms -- Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori, Hana, Samsung, Hyundai and Lotte -- came to 4.3 trillion won ($3.5 billion) last month, up 25.6 percent from a year earlier. The figure compares with annualized increases of 1.6 percent in January and 16.6 percent in

April 22, 2020

Korean insurers' overseas branches see net profit triple in 2019

Overseas branches of South Korean insurance firms saw their combined net profit triple from a year earlier to $69.9 million in 2019, data showed Tuesday. The figure accounted for 2 percent of the combined net profit of 10 insurance firms operating in South Korea last year, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The hike in net profit came on the back of life insurance firms' increased profit in the Asian region and a decrease in insurance claims from typhoons, hur

April 21, 2020

S. Korea’s exports, industries to be hit by historic oil crash

With global oil prices tanking, South Korea’s exports and its key industries are projected to face more hurdles, according to market watchers Tuesday.  The price of US crude oil plummeted from $18 a barrel to minus $38 within hours early Tuesday, as oil producers ran out of space to store the oversupply created by the ongoing pandemic. It rebounded into positive territory, above $1, around noon, but onlookers expect risks to linger for the time being. This has been spurring concer

April 21, 2020

Coronavirus pandemic feared to accelerate population decline in S. Korea

The coronavirus pandemic could have a negative impact on births and marriages this year and is feared to accelerate population decline in South Korea, a senior finance ministry official said Tuesday. Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said in a meeting on the nation's population policy that the coronavirus outbreak has reshaped people's everyday lives, prompting people to work from home and students to take online classes. "There are worries that shocks from COVID-19 could have a negati

April 21, 2020

BOK lends $2.1b more to banks via US currency swap

The Bank of Korea (BOK) delivered an additional $2.12 billion to local banks Tuesday under a currency swap deal with its US counterpart in a bid to stabilize the local foreign exchange market. The BOK held its fourth online auction to provide up to $4 billion in six-day debt and 84-day loans to commercial banks and state lenders. Bids undershot the central bank target of $3.5 billion in 84-day loans and $500 million in seven-day loans. No bids were placed for the six-day loans, the BOK said,

April 21, 2020

S. Korea pledges sufficient forex liquidity for virus-hit exporters, importers

South Korea‘s finance ministry said Tuesday it will continue to supply sufficient foreign-exchange liquidity to exporters and importers hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom made the remarks at a meeting with senior executives from major exporters and importers earlier in the day, the ministry said in a statement. Kim told the meeting that the global economy is expected to take a big hit by “unprecedented large-scale shocks” from the pandemic

April 21, 2020

Sales of derivatives-linked securities dip 32% in Q1

The issuance of derivatives-linked securities (DLS) in South Korea plummeted in the first quarter of the year amid uncertainties over the new coronavirus, data showed Tuesday. In the January-March period, sales of DLS amounted to 5.3 trillion won ($4.3 billion), down 31.7 percent from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD). The reading also marks a 17.5 percent fall from a year ago. DLS tracks the performance of interest rates, currency values

April 21, 2020

[Newsmaker] Devastating oil glut sends prices into negative

NEW YORK (AFP) -- US oil prices crashed to unprecedented lows Monday as futures in New York ended in negative territory for the first time amid a devastating supply glut that has forced traders to pay others to take the crude off their hands. With space to store oil scarce, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for May delivery closed at -$37.63 a barrel. The futures contract for May closes Tuesday, meaning traders who buy and sell the commodity for profit needed to find someone to take physi

April 21, 2020

Korea's exports sink 27% in first 20 days of April over virus pandemic

South Korea's exports sank 27 percent on year in the first 20 days of April amid the shock from the coronavirus pandemic, customs data showed Tuesday. The nation's outbound shipments dropped 26.9 percent in the April 1-20 period to $21.7 billion, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. The daily average exports during the 20-day period also slipped 16.8 percent on-year. The data came amid growing concerns that the coronavirus pandemic is denting exports by Asia's fourth-largest

April 21, 2020

Foreign currency deposits increase the most in 16 months in March

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea posted the biggest gain in 16 months in March on corporate preference for dollars amid the coronavirus crisis, data showed Monday. Outstanding foreign currency deposits at banks here reached $75.29 billion as of end-March, up $6.78 billion from a month before, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. It marks the largest on-month increase since the $6.94 billion rise recorded in November 2018. The figure covers deposits held by South Ko

April 20, 2020

S. Korea's economy seen contracting 1.81% in Q1: poll

South Korea’s economy is expected to report a 1.81 percent on-quarter contraction in the first quarter of the year, a poll showed Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic crippled industrial output, consumer spending and job markets in Asia’s fourth-largest economy. It would be the sharpest quarterly contraction since the fourth quarter of 2008, when the nation’s economy contracted 3.3 percent on-quarter, according to the survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm

April 20, 2020

Govt. urged to take aggressive steps to stem virus-caused unemployment

The government should take aggressive measures to prevent a possible jump in unemployment due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, a private think tank said Monday. The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said it has proposed a list of 10 labor policy tasks to the labor ministry in an effort to keep the COVID-19 outbreak from sparking massive joblessness in the country. The policy recommendations includes the payment of unemployment benefits to furloughed workers for three months an

April 20, 2020

Job market dropouts surge amid COVID-19 slump

Amid the prolonged economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea has seen a surge in its number of those dropping out of the job market altogether, government data showed Sunday. As these people are not subject to the government’s unemployment allowances and other benefits, there have been growing calls that the current job indexes and related subsidy system should be revised in light of the market reality. According to data from Statistics Korea, the number of those not inte

April 19, 2020

[News Focus] Sagging economy seemingly put in backyard in election

SEJONG -- Wednesay’s election de facto provided both the first and last opportunity for a large portion of voters in a fury to officially tackle the Moon Jae-in administration’s economic policies and judge its midterm performance via the ballot. But the majority of effective ballots chose the ruling party in the 2020 general election. This means opponents of President Moon’s state affairs in the economic sector will have to wait two more years until March 9, 2022, which is th

April 19, 2020

Korea to extend repayment deadline for poor nations

South Korea will allow certain coronavirus-hit countries to postpone repayment of their debts until the end of this year, Seoul officials said. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday in a World Bank Development Committee videoconference that Korea would extend the repayment deadline for members of the Industrial Development Agency and for the world’s least developed countries, at the suggestion of the World Bank, to give them some financial breathing room. “South Korea support

April 18, 2020

‘BOK’s latest loan program to help brokerages avoid worst-case scenario’

South Korea’s central bank’s unprecedented decision to extend loans to brokerages and other nonbanking institutions will help them avoid the worst amid an economic crisis brought on by the novel coronavirus, experts said Friday. The Bank of Korea announced Thursday that it planned to launch a special loan program worth 10 trillion won ($8.1 billion), which would allow local banks, brokerages and insurers to borrow funds for up to six months against collateral from the central bank

April 17, 2020

S. Korea, China vow to broaden economic exchanges despite pandemic

South Korea and China agreed Friday to expand joint efforts to tackle the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic and maintain the global supply chain. Industry Minister Sung Yun-mo held a videoconference with his Chinese counterpart Zhong Shan to discuss ways to expand their economic ties amid the challenging business environment sparked by the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. During the meeting, South Korea said its carmakers were able to promptl

April 17, 2020

Coronavirus batters S. Korea's demand, employment, exports: finance ministry

The coronavirus pandemic has battered South Korea's domestic demand, job market and exports, with uncertainties from the highly contagious virus still expanding, the finance ministry said Friday. In a monthly report, called Green Book, the Ministry of Economy and Finance painted a bleaker picture of the economic impact from the virus pandemic compared with its March report. "With domestic consumption continuing to shrink, employment indices sharply declined and uncertainties surrounding

April 17, 2020