Import prices up for 3rd month in March on oil, raw materials price hikes

South Korea's import prices increased for the third straight month in March as prices of crude oil and other commodities rose, central bank data showed Thursday. The import price index rose 7.8 percent in March from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The rise followed 4.4 percent and 4.6 percent rises in January and February, respectively. The rise came as the ongoing war in Ukraine has sent oil and other raw materials prices even higher. The BOK said

April 14, 2022

Fiscal chief apologizes for failing to curb housing prices

SEJONG -- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki apologized for failing to curb apartment prices, but said the government’s real estate measures have been consistent. “The government has pushed for real estate policies in a consistent manner under the three principles of increasing supply, protecting real demand and restraining speculative investment,” he said during a ministerial meeting on Wednesday. He said that he felt sorry about the situation in which &l

April 13, 2022

Job growth slows in March amid upsurge in COVID-19 cases

South Korea reported job additions for the 13th consecutive month in March, but job growth slowed from the previous month as employment in in-person services was hit by the upsurge in COVID-19 cases, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people came to 27.75 million last month, up 831,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number of employed people grew by the largest for any March since 2002, when it rose 864,000 on-year. But the March tally was

April 13, 2022

S. Korea to make nuclear power U-turn under new government

The transition committee working for President Yoon Suk-yeol said Tuesday that the incoming government will embrace nuclear power in its decarbonization efforts, signaling a major shift in energy policy the outgoing Moon Jae-in government had said has no place for nuclear power. Won Hee-ryong, chief policymaker setting out Yoon’s agenda, said Korea had seen more emissions and would see soaring electricity costs because of Moon’s push to phase out nuclear power, which makes up roughl

April 12, 2022

Consumption to fuel Korea’s growth: AMRO

SEJONG -- The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office has predicted that South Korea would attain a 3 percent growth this year on the back of robust consumption among households. In its outlook report on the 13 Asian economies on Tuesday, AMRO maintained its earlier forecast of a 3 percent growth for Korea, which was the figure suggested by the organization in January. The figure was in line with estimates suggested by the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank. The Ministry

April 12, 2022

AMRO maintains 2022 growth outlook for S. Korean economy at 3%

An economic surveillance organization in Asia on Tuesday maintained its 2022 growth outlook for the South Korean economy at 3 percent, citing improving private spending despite heightened external economic risks. The projection by the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) remains unchanged from its January estimate and is in line with the 3 percent growth estimates by the Bank of Korea and the International Monetary Fund. The Singapore-based international organization forecast Asia's four

April 12, 2022

Market watchers divided over BOK's rate-setting meeting this week: poll

Market watchers are sharply divided over whether the Bank of Korea (BOK) will raise its key policy rate this week amid persistent worries over inflation that has been under growing upward pressure from surging oil and commodity prices, a poll showed Tuesday. The BOK is set to hold a rate-setting meeting Thursday. In February, the central bank froze its policy interest rate at 1.25 percent after hiking it by a combined 0.75 percentage point since August last year. According to the poll of 100 b

April 12, 2022

Fed’s rate hikes to weaken S. Korea’s exports: report

South Korea’s exports, which account for half of the nation’s economy, will likely weaken once the US Federal Reserve starts carrying out additional and steeper rate hikes, a think tank report showed Monday. The report came after minutes from the March Federal Open Market Committee meeting released last week indicated officials initially preferred a 50-basis-point rate hike, but instead settled on 25 points, considering the Ukraine crisis. The Fed raised the benchmark rate by 25 bas

April 11, 2022

Bond issuance in S. Korea gains in March

Bond issuance in South Korea rose solidly in March from the previous month thanks largely to increased state debt sale, industry data showed Monday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy came to 71.3 trillion won ($58.1 billion) last month, up 4.7 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Sales of government bonds jumped by 8.9 trillion won to 28.9 trillion won in March, with those of special bonds rising by 971 b

April 11, 2022

Exports up 3% in first 10 days of April

South Korea's exports rose 3 percent in the first 10 days of April from a year earlier on the back of demand for chips and petroleum products, customs data showed Monday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $15.3 billion in the April 1-10 period, compared with $14.9 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports gained 12.8 percent on-year to $18.9 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $3.52 billion during the cited period, the data showed. By s

April 11, 2022

Yoon’s pick for fiscal chief vows to back extra budget despite runaway inflation

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s finance minister nominee said Sunday that he will seek parliamentary approval of an extra budget to support the self-employed and small businesses hit hardest by COVID-19, despite runaway inflation eating into many household budgets. Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, currently a two-term lawmaker of Yoon’s People Power Party, said inflation cannot be the reason to avoid increasing spending. “How we can manage to benefit from the extra budget while shielding

April 10, 2022

S. Korea "positively" mulling joining US-proposed economic framework: minister

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Friday the government is "positively" considering joining a new US-proposed economic framework in the Indo-Pacific region. The United States is seeking to launch the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) to seek deeper cooperation with partner nations on a wide range of economic and trade issues, including digital trade and supply chains. The move is widely seen as aimed at countering China amid an intensifying Sino-US rivalry. "Discuss

April 8, 2022

Current account surplus narrows in Feb. amid surging energy costs

South Korea posted a current account surplus for the 22nd straight month in February, but the surplus narrowed from a year earlier as soaring oil prices boosted import bills, central bank data showed Friday. The current account surplus reached $6.42 billion in February, down from $8.06 billion the previous year, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account has remained in the black since May 2020 on the back of robust exports. But the surplus fell on-year

April 8, 2022

Grain import prices to climb further: institute

SEJONG -- Import prices of grain will likely continue to climb during the second quarter of the year amid deepening inflationary pressure worldwide, a state-funded agency predicted. According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute, the projection index for import prices for edible grain and fodder grain reached 158.5 and 163.1, respectively, in the period of April to June. This is a rise by 10.4 percent and 13.6 percent compared to a quarter earlier, under the assumption that the price level wa

April 7, 2022

Kakao Mobility to invest W50b to support biz partners

Kakao Mobility Corp., South Korea's leading taxi-hailing firm, said Thursday that it will invest 50 billion won ($41 million) to support its business partners to spearhead shared growth. The investment is part of a 300 billion-won fund created by its parent firm, internet giant Kakao Corp., to support small business partners over the next five years. "Kakao Mobility aims to support the mobility ecosystem so that it can accomplish shared growth through the coexistence fund," Ryu Geung-s

April 7, 2022

Private companies to take over role of securing raw materials

Private companies will take over from state firms in pursuing raw materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel to better respond to supply shortages stemming from global political unrest, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s transition committee said Wednesday. “The supply bottlenecks are getting worse because geopolitical unrest is taking place worldwide and supply chains are held hostage. Demand for raw materials is growing since more electric vehicles and renewable energy are using th

April 6, 2022

Pessimism grows over Korea’s 3% growth targets

SEJONG -- Skepticism is growing over the Korean economy’s growth targets due to a variety of downside risks at home and abroad, though the government had predicted the economy would expand by 3.1 percent this year. The gloomy situation could be seen from the recent announcement of international organizations and rating firms, who started revising down their outlooks on the 2022 gross domestic product growth for Korea. In March, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings both slash

April 6, 2022

S. Korea's senior citizens suffer high rate of relative poverty: report

The relative poverty rate of South Korean senior citizens has been on the decline, but is still high among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) amid rapid aging, a report showed Wednesday. The relative poverty rate of South Koreans aged 66 or older came to 40.4 percent in 2020, down from 43.2 percent the previous year and 47.8 percent in 2011, according to the report on sustainable development goals by Statistics Korea. Relative poverty rate refers

April 6, 2022

ADB cuts 2022 growth estimate for S. Korean economy to 3%

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday lowered its 2022 growth outlook for the South Korean economy to 3 percent amid the upsurge in COVID-19 cases and the Ukraine crisis. The latest estimate by the Manila-based bank is lower than the 3.1 percent growth forecast made in December last year. The ADB forecast the South Korean economy will grow 2.6 percent next year. Despite the downward revision, the ADB assessed the South Korean economy is expected to "settle into more sustainable grow

April 6, 2022

Yoon’s committee starts work on digitizing government work

The transition committee working for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday discussed digitizing government work with outside experts after being briefed on digital efforts under the current Moon Jae-in government. A task force -- launched by the committee to deliver on Yoon’s promise to change the way the government works by embracing digital technology, mainly big data but also artificial intelligence -- held its first meeting to facilitate the digital shift before Yoon takes office

April 5, 2022