New home permits shrink 10% in Feb.

New home permits in South Korea fell nearly 10 percent in February from a year earlier due to a drop outside the capital region, the government said Monday. Construction permits issued for new homes stood at 37,980 units last month, down 10.1 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. New home permits issued in Seoul climbed 6.5 percent on-year to 5,651 in February, and those issued in the capital area edged up 0.8 percent to 26,2

March 30, 2020

Biz sentiment for April dips to over decade low on COVID-19: survey

Business sentiment in South Korea plunged to an 11-year low for April, due to the growing impact of the new coronavirus outbreak on the economy, a local think tank said Monday. The business survey index (BSI) of the country's top 600 companies by sales came to 59.3 for April, the lowest since January 2009, when the index was 51, the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said in a statement. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists, while a figure above the benchmark means th

March 30, 2020

More than half of BOK's rate setting body to be replaced

The Bank of Korea (BOK) will soon receive four new members of its seven-member monetary policy board, a change that may also lead to a shift in the central bank's future rate policies, market observers said Monday.   The four new members will replace those set to step down April 20.   The outgoing members are Koh Seung-beom, Cho Dong-chul, Shin In-seok and Lee Il-houng.   A change of more than a majority of members may signal a shift in the way the central bank operates its monet

March 30, 2020

REITs take big hit from virus-induced recession woes

South Korean real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been hit hard by escalating concerns over a global recession stemming from the new coronavirus outbreak, data showed Monday. Shares in Lotte Shopping Co.'s REIT, listed in October last year, finished at 4,910 won ($4.03) Friday, down 20.3 percent from the end of last year, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. NH Prime REIT, listed in December, saw its share price tumble 21.8 percent over the cited period. The trust is affiliate

March 30, 2020

Korea's March exports tipped to rise 1.2%: poll

South Korea's exports are expected to have edged up 1.2 percent in March from a year earlier, a poll showed Monday, but the global spread of the new coronavirus is expected to hurt outbound shipments by Asia's No. 4 economy down the road due to the global spread of the new coronavirus. The country's outbound shipments are estimated at $47.5 billion this month, according to the poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. The survey was carried out on eight local brokera

March 30, 2020

[News Focus] COVID-19 likely to cause record surge in payouts for jobless in March

SEJONG -- Government payouts for the jobless are estimated to have shot up to a historic high in March in the wake of COVID-19. The Ministry of Employment and Labor is set to make the figure public in about two weeks. A surge in the number of unemployment benefits claimants is projected for sectors including tourism, airlines, restaurants, lodging, private educational institutes and many other retail services. Among the eight major cities and nine provinces in South Korea, Daegu and Nort

March 29, 2020

Korea mulls direct cash transfers to low-income families

South Korea announced Sunday that it will supply disaster relief funds to low-income households amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The government will send emergency aid in the form of one-time cash payments to 10 million households earning less than the median income, according to the Ministry of Finance and Economy.  The median income is the middle of the income distribution, where half the households earn more and half earn less. The median income of a four-membe

March 29, 2020

‘S. Korea needs to shift focus to real economy’

Bolstered by the government’s decision to double its economic rescue package to 100 trillion won ($82.5 billion), coupled with the central bank’s promise of unlimited quantitative easing, South Korea appears to have evaded a financial disaster for now. But a bigger task awaits, according to experts: preventing the risks stemming from the novel coronavirus from dragging down the real economy. Officials and experts alike have stressed the need for closer attention to the nonfinanc

March 29, 2020

S. Korea to implement new global bank capital rules in Q2

South Korea will implement new global bank capital rules in the second quarter of the year, the country's financial regulator said Sunday, a move that could increase corporate lending amid a liquidity crunch caused by the spread of the new coronavirus. The banking regulations, known as Basel III, were agreed upon by financial regulators around the world in 2017. The new rules, including revisions to calculation systems for capital requirements and credit risks, were set in the aftermath of th

March 29, 2020

Calls for basic income subsidy support grow

Provincial governors and mayors urged the central government Saturday to shoulder the cost of basic income subsidies to help citizens. “It is imperative for the (central) government to take more aggressive and proactive measures to bring the society‘s safety net back to normal,” the Governors Association of Korea, composed of the heads of 17 local governments, said in a proposal to Korea‘s central government. “Facing a national emergency, the (central) governmen

March 28, 2020

S. Korea posts record high trade surplus in copyrights in 2019

South Korea posted a record high yearly trade surplus in copyrights last year, backed by the global popularity of K-pop, extending its annual surplus streak for the seventh year, the culture ministry said Friday. The trade surplus in copyrights came to $1.62 billion in 2019, the biggest yearly earnings since relevant figures were first compiled in 2010, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, citing data from the Bank of Korea. The same year, South Korea's trade balance in broader in

March 27, 2020

Consumer sentiment dips to over 10-year low in March

Amid the snowballing economic fallout of the novel coronavirus, South Korea saw its consumer sentiment aggravate in March, hitting its lowest point in more than a decade, central bank data showed Friday. The composite consumer sentiment index, or CCSI, stood at 78.4 in March, down 18.5 points on-month and marking the lowest score since March 2009, when the world was reeling under the global financial crisis, according to data from the Bank of Korea. The corresponding survey was conducted o

March 27, 2020

Coronavirus to hit tourism in Asia-Pacific: report

South Korea is feared to be one of the hardest-hit countries in the Asia-Pacific area, given the fact that China, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, accounts for 20 percent of international tourism expenditures. Other vulnerable countries are Thailand, Japan and Vietnam as they depend heavily on Chinese visitors for tourism revenue. The fast spread of the novel coronavirus is also feared to cause the global aviation industry to suffer big losses in passenger numbers and revenue. Should the

March 27, 2020

BOK to provide ‘unlimited’ liquidity to market until end-June

South Korea’s central bank said Thursday that it will inject an unlimited amount of liquidity to the financial market over the next three months, in an effort to sustain the volatile market amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. “The Bank of Korea has decided to supply an unlimited amount of liquidity to financial institutions to reduce the economic fallout of COVID-19 and remove uncertainties in the financial market,” the BOK said in a release. “Also, it will expan

March 26, 2020

[News Focus] Korean retail investors are victims of ‘unpaid’ stock buying

SEJONG -- Foreigners’ aggressive net-seller position on the local market has not yet subsided as of the fourth week of March. Over the past 16 trading sessions between March 5-26, foreign corporate investors net sold local stocks worth 10.7 trillion won ($8.69 billion), which are listed on the main bourse. Their divesting has continued for the 16th consecutive session since March 5. Their selling spree, which is attributed to fast spreading COVID-19 worldwide as well as the epidemic&rsq

March 26, 2020

BOK to supply 'unlimited' amount of liquidity for next 3 months

The Bank of Korea said Thursday that it will supply an "unlimited" amount of liquidity over the next three months to financial institutions to help prevent a credit crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic. "The Bank of Korea decided to provide an unlimited amount of liquidity to financial firms to help minimize the economic fallout from the spread of COVID-19 and remove uncertainties in the financial market," the BOK said in a press release. (Yonhap)

March 26, 2020

S. Korea expands job subsidies, eases FX rules

Bracing for the prolonged fallout from COVID-19, South Korea will drastically expand the employment promotion subsidy and alleviate foreign exchange liquidity rules for financial companies, the country’s chief fiscal policymaker said Wednesday. While presenting the central government’s latest market-stabilizing measures, he also said individual subsidy plans may create confusion, implying disapproval of moves by some local governments to distribute an “anti-disaster basic

March 25, 2020

S. Korea to loosen FX liquidity guidelines to boost dollar liquidity

South Korea will ease foreign exchange liquidity rules temporarily to prod local financial firms to provide more dollars in the currency market currently roiled by the market turbulence, the country's chief economic policymaker said Wednesday. Local financial institutions have been required to hold an adequate amount of foreign currency assets on hand to get over short-term liquidity disruptions. Currently, the foreign exchange liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) for banks is set at least 80 percent.

March 25, 2020

S. Korea calls on G-20 to work on alleviating excessive travel, logistics bans

South Korea has urged advanced nations to refrain from excessive restrictions on human activities and material resources amid the global novel coronavirus spread, citing the economic repercussions, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Tuesday. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 member nations on Monday met virtually to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. The meeting was also attended by representatives from the International Monetary F

March 24, 2020

Moon vows W100tr rescue package to reinvigorate economy

President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday announced plans to double the size of an economic rescue package to 100 trillion won ($80 billion) to boost local businesses suffering due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. The announcement follows a second emergency economic council session this year. Officials handling the nation’s fiscal and monetary policies including Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol and Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo were present at

March 24, 2020