Inflation expectations fall for second consecutive month in Sept.: BOK data

South Korea's inflation expectations declined for a second straight month in September amid falling oil prices, a central bank survey showed Monday. Ordinary people expected consumer prices will grow 4.2 percent over the next year, down 0.1 percentage point from 4.3 percent of the previous month, according to the poll conducted by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The inflation expectations index has shown a gradual decline since July, when the monthly figure peaked at an all-time high of 4.7 percen

Sept. 27, 2022

Korea to rank 12th among G-20 nations in 2022 growth: OECD

SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development forecast Monday that South Korea will rank 12th among members of the Group of 20 for 2022 gross domestic product growth, hinting that the nation will see weakened momentum for economic growth. In its Interim Economic Outlook, the France-based OECD predicted that Korea will post a 2.8 percent growth this year. This is lower than the organization’s forecast for other G-20 members, including 4.1 percent growth in Australia,

Sept. 26, 2022

Inflation to stay in 5-6% range for considerable period of time: BOK chief

South Korea's consumer inflation is likely to stay in the 5-6 percent range for a considerable period of time amid high energy and food prices and the local currency's sharp weakness against the US dollar, the chief of the country's central bank said Monday. Asia's fourth-largest economy is expected to see slowing growth momentum into next year due to China's slowdown and heightened external conditions, Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong told a parliamentary committee me

Sept. 26, 2022

Govt. asks food industry to minimize price hikes

A South Korean vice finance minister on Friday asked the food industry to minimize raising food prices as the country is grappling with high inflation. The government also plans to expand the supply of agricultural products, including napa cabbage and white radish, in a bid to better deal with high demand for kimchi-making events ahead of the winter season, according to First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun. "In light of the stabilizing trends of grain prices, we are asking (the food sect

Sept. 23, 2022

NPS, BOK to sign currency swap deal as Korean won tumbles

South Korea's pension operator and the central bank are taking steps for a currency swap agreement as the Korean won tumbled to its lowest level against the US dollar in 13 years on Thursday. The National Pension Service will borrow the greenback it needs to invest overseas from the Bank of Korea, instead of buying it from the foreign currency market, and loan Korean won to the bank in return. The last currency swap deal between the two was dissolved in 2008 as the BOK demanded an end, citing a

Sept. 22, 2022

Won dips below 1,400 mark for 1st time in over 13 years after Fed's rate hike

The South Korean currency on Thursday sank below the 1,400 mark against the US dollar for the first time in more than 13 years during its intraday trading following the Federal Reserve's rate hike. The Korean currency was trading at 1,403.80 won against the dollar as of 9:07 a.m., down 9.60 won from the previous session. The won fell to as low as 1,404.70 at one point. The won had fallen through the 1,400 mark for the first time since March 31, 2009, when the local currency hit 1,422 won per the

Sept. 22, 2022

Finance minister declines to comment on possibility of currency swap deal with US

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Wednesday that a currency swap agreement with the United Sates would "definitely" help stabilize the foreign exchange market but declined to comment on the possibility of such a deal.   He made the remarks after a local media outlet reported that a US$60 billion currency swap agreement with the US is expected to be announced as early as this week. The Bank of Korea denied the report as "different from the facts."   "A currenc

Sept. 21, 2022

Trade deficit casts clouds on markets, growth

SEJONG -- South Korea is likely to record a trade deficit for the sixth consecutive month, as the nation suffered a trade deficit of $4.1 billion for the first 20 days of September, down 8.7 percent on-year, state data showed Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the nation posted $32.9 billion in exports while imports increased 6.1 percent on-year to $37 billion over the corresponding period. It would be the first time in 25 years for Asia's fourth-largest econom

Sept. 21, 2022

ADB cuts Korea’s 2023 growth outlook to 2.3%

The Asian Development Bank lowered South Korea’s growth outlook for next year by 0.3 percentage point to 2.3 percent in its updated outlook published Wednesday, while keeping its forecast for this year at 2.6 percent. It also maintained Korea’s inflation outlook at 4.5 percent for this year, and 3 percent for 2023. “(Korea’s) private consumption is expected to slow in the second half of the 2022 as stimulus from the economy’s reopening fades and interest rate increa

Sept. 21, 2022

Financial firms continue to close offline offices amid increased use of mobile services

The number of offline offices run by financial firms in South Korea declined more than 1,000 over the past year as the use of mobile services spiked amid their fast transition to digitalization, data showed Tuesday. Local financial companies, including banks and insurers, had run a total of 15,924 offline offices in South Korea as of end-March, down 1,037 from the same month a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Of them, the number of insurers' offlin

Sept. 20, 2022

OECD cuts S. Korea’s 2023 growth outlook to 2.2%

SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday predicted that the gross domestic product growth of South Korea would stay in the low 2 percent range next year. In particular, the Paris-based OECD forecast that the nation’s exports and private consumption would post slower-than-expected growth in 2023. In the 2022 OECD Economic Survey of Korea, the organization revised its outlook on the 2023 GDP growth of Korea to 2.2 percent, from its suggestion of 2.5 per

Sept. 19, 2022

Won falls to new yearly low amid woes over Fed's tightening, economic uncertainty

South Korea's currency fell to a new yearly low in intraday trading Friday amid worries the US Federal Reserve will continue monetary tightening to tame inflation and its negative impact on the global economy. The local currency was trading at 1,396.1 won per dollar as of 9:50 a.m., down 2.4 won from the previous session's close. The won fell to as low as 1,399.0 won at one point, flirting with the 1,400 level that has not been breached since March 31, 2009, when it dived to 1,422.0 wo

Sept. 16, 2022

Unemployment rate hits all-time low in August; job growth slows

South Korea's unemployment rate hit an all-time low last month, but the pace of job growth slowed down for the third month in a row amid economic uncertainties, data showed Friday. The number of employed people stood at 28.41 million in August, up 807,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It is the highest on-year rise for any August since 2000, when the country added 848,000 jobs from the previous year. The country's job market has improved markedly after

Sept. 16, 2022

Import prices decline for 2nd straight month in Aug. amid falling oil prices

South Korea's import prices declined for the second straight month in August as global oil prices fell amid concerns about global economic slowdown, central bank data showed Friday. The import price index fell 0.9 percent in August from a month earlier after it declined 2.6 percent on-month in July, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The BOK attributed the decline to falling oil prices which drove down prices of petroleum and mine products. South Korea depends o

Sept. 16, 2022

S. Korea's national debt on steady rise despite revenue growth

South Korea's national debt has risen further despite an increase in tax revenue, due largely to the growing spending on supporting pandemic-hit small merchants and other vulnerable groups, data showed Thursday. The total debt had stood at 1,022 trillion won ($732.88 billion) as of end-July, up 14.5 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data by the Finance Ministry. As of end-2021, the national debt had come to 939.1 trillion won but had been on a steady rise to surpass the 1,

Sept. 15, 2022

Container rates for US west coast jump over 30% in Aug.

SEJONG -- Shipping costs for container cargo bound for the west coast of the United States soared more than 30 percent in August from a year earlier, but their growth rate slowed from the previous month, government data showed Thursday. The average freight rate for a 40-foot container from Asia's fourth-largest economy to the US west coast reached 14.31 million won ($10,300) last month, up 32.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Yet the on-yea

Sept. 15, 2022

Relocation to Busan underway: KDB chief

Despite in-house resistance, preparations to relocate the state-run Korea Development Bank to Busan from Seoul are underway, the policy lender’s chief said Wednesday, saying that he would work to persuade employees. “As the man in charge, I do feel for my employees facing potentially a difficult time,” KDB Chairman & CEO Kang Seog-hoon said, referring to workers holding rallies to protest the relocation plan. It is a decision made by the president and the prime minister and is

Sept. 14, 2022

S. Korea sets up task force to support typhoon-hit steel industry

The industry ministry said Wednesday it will run a task force to support steelmakers with post-typhoon recovery work and to check the supply situation of steel products to minimize damage by Typhoon Hinnamnor. Last week, Typhoon Hinnamnor hit the southern part of South Korea and affected steelmaking facilities run by major companies, including POSCO and Hyundai Steel. POSCO had halted blast furnaces at its main steel mill in Pohang for the first time in its half-century history. The task force w

Sept. 14, 2022

BOK vows market stability with eye on US rate hike

Speculation over a third large rate hike of 75 basis points by the US Federal Reserve next week runs higher than ever, but the Bank of Korea sought to reassure market watchers Tuesday that preparations to cushion its impact were underway. “We have to step up monitoring of capital inflows and outflows and currency markets,” said Lee Seung-heon, senior deputy governor at the central bank, warning against growing uncertainties: a hawkish US Fed and a like-minded European Central Bank. T

Sept. 13, 2022

Use of disposable cups soars during pandemic

The use of disposable cups has soared during the pandemic years, with the annual number exceeding 1 billion for the first time last year, a report showed Tuesday. According to an Environment Ministry report submitted to Rep. Lee Joo-hwan of the ruling People Power Party, the number of single-use plastic and paper cups consumed at 14 cafe and four popular fast-food chains was 4.34 billion over the past five years. Last year, the number reached 1.02 billion, a surge from 770 million in 2019. The a

Sept. 13, 2022