SEJONG -- The first phase of real estate policy of the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration will be unveiled in an appropriate timing, said Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the presidential transition team, on Monday. But the transition team said that the unveiling timing will be later than this week, suggesting that internal discussions were still underway. It also denied the rumors that the comprehensive housing policy will be publicized before lawmakers at the National Assembly. Spokespeopl

Economy April 18, 2022

SEJONG -- Policymakers on Friday have unveiled a monthslong consumption campaign offering discount vouchers for the leisure and sports sectors, as the country eases social distancing and slowly returns to normal. At a meeting to monitor consumer prices and economic policies on Friday, Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon said the government will provide households with discount vouchers that can be used when booking lodging facilities and buying tickets to watch professional sports leagues. He s

Economy April 15, 2022

SEJONG -- South Korea is projected to see the portion of foreign population increase by 1.2 percentage points to 4.3 percent by 2040, state demographic data showed Thursday. The data also forecast that the portion of Korean seniors, aged 65 or over, will far outstrip that of elderly foreigners residing in the nation in 2040, suggesting that local people are aging faster than foreign residents. According to Statistics Korea, the number of foreigners posted 1.6 million as of 2022, which accounte

Economy April 14, 2022

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

Economy April 13, 2022

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

Economy April 12, 2022

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

Economy April 7, 2022

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

Economy April 6, 2022

SEJONG -- The Ministry of Economy and Finance said Tuesday that it would expand the rate of tax cut on fuel from the current 20 percent to 30 percent, temporarily from May to July, as a contingency plan to alleviate inflationary pressure. The measure, aimed at easing the cost burden on households and some businesses, was unveiled amid growing concerns over consumer price growth reaching the highest figure in more than 10 years. Announcing the plan at a ministerial meeting, Deputy Prime Ministe

Economy April 5, 2022

SEJONG -- A spike in import prices of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products is estimated to have propelled a recent sharp growth in the nation’s overall consumer prices, data from a research institute showed Monday. According to the Korea Trade Statistics Promotion Institute, the index for import prices of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products reached 112.6 in February, up 31.7 percent from a year earlier. The index is calculated under the assumption that prices was at

Economy April 4, 2022

SEJONG -- Korea’s monthly exports recorded an all-time high in March on the back of robust performance in outbound shipments of semiconductors and petrochemicals, state data showed Friday. But the nation saw its trade balance in the red, as imports also increased to a record high last month in the wake of a spike in international raw materials prices. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the country recorded $63.4 billion in exports for March, up 18.2 percent from a y

Economy April 1, 2022

SEJONG -- Korea’s industrial output declined for the second consecutive month in the wake of a glitch in imports of raw materials as well as the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, state data showed Thursday. According to Statistics Korea, industrial output decreased by 0.2 percent in February, compared to the previous month. It posted a 0.3 percent drop in January. This marked the first time in 21 months dating to May 2020 that industrial output fell for two consecutive mo

Economy March 31, 2022

SEJONG -- Economic policymakers are reportedly mapping out measures to ease the burden of households and microbusiness owners, as the nation’s gasoline and diesel prices have surged in the wake of spiking international crude oil prices. A core interest in the market is whether the Ministry of Economy and Finance will decide to expand the rate of tax cut on fuel from the current discount. A Finance Ministry official was quoted by a news provider on Wednesday as saying that the government

Economy March 30, 2022

SEJONG -- The International Monetary Fund has recommended South Korea keep practicing policies for tight mortgage regulations, showing a substantial difference from policy directions suggested by the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration. In a report on its yearly consultations with Korean officials, the IMF recommended that the government draw up “measures to improve housing supply.” But the US-based organization suggested that Korea keep on practicing policies of conducting tight

Economy March 29, 2022

SEJONG -- Spiraling international energy prices have been increasingly undermining the trade balance of South Korea, which posted deficit for the first 79 days of the year on a cumulative basis. According the Korea Customs Service, the nation’s imports of three major energy resources -- crude, gas and coal -- came to $38.4 billion during the period of Jan. 1 - March 20. This marked an 85.4 percent surge compared to the same period of 2021. A 69.8 percent increase was seen in imports of c

Economy March 28, 2022

SEJONG -- The tax administrative agencies of South Korea and the UK have agreed to closely collaborate on exchanging information on how to track tax evasion by wealthy individuals. The two also discussed ways to share confidential information regarding offshore tax evasion, said the National Tax Service of Korea on Friday. The bilateral agreement came during a meeting between Korea’s NTS commissioner Kim Dae-ji and the UK’s HM Revenue & Customs First Permanent Secretary and Chi

Economy March 25, 2022