The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Wednesday that it has sold part of its share in the state-owned Industrial Bank of Korea to domestic and foreign institutional investors via block trade.It sold a total of 23.24 million shares, or 4.2 percent, of IBK, at 11,400 won ($10.70) per share evenly to foreign and domestic investors, the Finance Ministry added.The shares sold at a 5 percent discount on Tuesday’s market closing price of 12,000 won per share, it noted. The sale amounted to 265 bill

Nov. 27, 2013

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Tuesday that it is not considering banning consumers from purchasing lottery tickets with cash.This comes as news outlets reported that Korea’s gambling regulators were moving to prohibit consumers from buying tickets with cash by adopting the electronic card payment system in an effort to prevent gambling addiction.The Finance Ministry said that the media reports were “untrue and that it is not considering banning cash payments for lotteries.”Electronic

Nov. 26, 2013

Hopes for South Korea restarting trade with Iran have been raised following a landmark nuclear deal between the Middle Eastern nation and a group of six powers led by the U.S.Key sectors such as automobiles and petrochemicals, which are blocked from trade with Iran under sanctions by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, are expected to be revitalized, analysts said.As an initial lightening of curbs, the deal would suspend economic sanctions on Iran’s auto and petrochemical indus

Nov. 25, 2013

Monthly household income in South Korea grew 2.9 percent on-year during the third quarter amid signs the economy is recovering from a prolonged slump, government data showed Friday.The income of households consisting of two members or more averaged 4.26 million won ($4,012) per month during the July-September period, up from 4.14 million won tallied a year earlier, according to the data provided by Statistics Korea. If adjusted for inflation, income also grew 1.6 percent.The income growth rate i

Nov. 22, 2013

The shares of Korean blue chips with significant foreign investment, such as Samsung Electronics, POSCO and Hyundai Motor, will be the first of many stocks to be hit by the tapering of U.S. quantitative easing, analysts projected.They will also be affected by Japan’s continued monetary stimulus, part of the so-called “Abenomics” aimed at reviving its economy that has led to the depreciation of the yen, the analysts said.“A psychological effect might drive foreign sell-offs and capital outflow on

Nov. 22, 2013

Officials at the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance once again expressed concerns over the Korean won’s appreciation, indicating their intentions to control the won’s strength against the dollar despite cautions from their U.S. counterparts.The exchange rate rose 1.5 won against the dollar to 1,057.9 won on Wednesday as forex officials indicated that it would not rule out additional market intervention to tame the won’s rise.The won has been gaining as foreign investors reall

Nov. 20, 2013

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday that it revised downward Korea’s 2014 economic growth outlook from 4 percent to 3.8 percent, as Asia’s fourth-largest economy is highly exposed to external factors stemming from unorthodox policies implemented by advanced economies.The OECD, however, raised its initial 2013 growth projection for the Korean economy from 2.6 percent to 2.7 percent on the back of “modest” global recovery.The global economy is expected to grow 2.

Nov. 19, 2013

Korea’s financial regulators will require domestic banks to apply tougher rules and procedures for customers opening a bank account in an effort to prevent them from establishing accounts under borrowed names used by third parties for slush funds and other financial irregularities.Consumers will no longer be able to open an account within five minutes at banks from next month as the Financial Supervisory Service will require banks to go through rigorous identification screening and verification,

Nov. 18, 2013

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Monday that it will jointly host the G20 Seoul Conference with Australia’s department of finance, the Korea Institute of Finance and the Korea Development Institute on Dec. 18-19.Australia will host the G20 in 2014, and Sydney will host the first of two meetings of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors on Feb. 21-23, 2014, according to the Australian prime minister’s office. Korea’s Finance Ministry said the Seoul Conference will invit

Nov. 18, 2013

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance will give more power to its steering committee to boost its oversight and evaluation of hundreds of state-run companies, institutions and quasi-sovereign enterprises, it said Sunday.The committee will be given more authority to operate like a “creditor bank” over the management of state-run companies to prevent executives from running the companies recklessly under heavy debt and receiving excessive pay and benefits.It will strengthen its management evaluatio

Nov. 17, 2013

Reassurance by the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman nominee Janet Yellen that it will maintain its quantitative easing until the country has made progress in growth and employment has boosted global stocks, including Korea’s last week.The Korean benchmark KOSPI rebounded above the psychologically important 2,000 threshold for the first time in six trading days last Friday, driven by improved investor sentiment following Yellen’s support for an easy money policy.However, global markets, including

Nov. 17, 2013

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said that the government will tame excessive borrowing and executive pay at state-owned enterprises and put their finances under control.In a meeting with chief executives of 12 state-run enterprises on Thursday, the deputy prime minister warned them that “the party is over,” saying that the government will put a stop to their relentless greed for higher bonuses and salaries, and overleveraging.“The party is over now. We should face reality

Nov. 14, 2013

Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo said Thursday that it was highly “inappropriate” to say that the country was able to achieve current account surpluses mainly due to its undervalued currency.The governor’s remarks to the press came after the BOK monetary policy committee unanimously decided to keep its key base rate unchanged at 2.5 percent for the sixth straight month.Gov. Kim said that Korea saw “surpluses mostly through trade with emerging economies, not with developed economies,” adding tha

Nov. 14, 2013

The government plans to further open up its state-run enterprises’ cash reserves to increase investment in business projects and human capital in the hope of encouraging the private sector to follow suit this year.Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said in an economic-related meeting on Wednesday that it will support its state-run enterprises to invest another some 1.5 trillion won ($1.4 billion) during the rest of the year.The 1.5 trillion won scheme includes 100 billion wo

Nov. 13, 2013