South Korea's M2 money supply grew at the fastest pace in five years in September due largely to ample liquidity amid a low interest rate trend, the central bank said Wednesday.The M2 reached 2,230 trillion won ($1.92 trillion) last month, marking a 9.4 percent growth from the same month last year and slightly speeding up from a 9.2 percent on-year gain in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The September growth is the fastest pace since June 2010, when the figure hit 9.7 percent.

South Korea's jobless rate fell in October as more people were hired in the manufacturing, and facility management and business support service sectors, a government report showed Wednesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the jobless rate stood at 3.1 percent last month, down from 3.2 percent in September. The jobless rate was also down 0.1 percentage point on-year, the first time since November 2013 that the number fell from a year earlier.The seasonally adjusted jobless rate for O

Concern continues to mount over Korea’s growing trade dependence on China amid the nation’s prolonged export slump, hit by the slowdown of its trading partner’s economic growth, the Finance Ministry reported Tuesday.In its Recent Economic Trends in November report, the ministry said China’s slowdown was a key “external risk” undermining Korea’s economic growth.Korea has experienced a continuous slide in export volume all year. It dropped 15.8 percent on-year in October, snowballing from an 8.4 p

A report from the National Assembly Budget Office is expected to rekindle the debate on revision of the corporate tax rate, with critics continuing to push for a hike to improve fiscal soundness.Justifying the current level, the parliamentary office ― citing data from the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation ― said Korea’s corporate taxes are above the average of the 34 OECD member nations.“Korea’s corporate taxes amounted to 3.4 percent of its gross domestic product in 2013,” s

Korea’s economic growth is expected to slow to around an annual 2.5 percent over the next two years, according to a global credit rating agency.Moody’s Investors Service said that the slowdown will occur as Korea is affected by sluggish growth in countries such as China and the emerging markets. The forecast was included in the Global Macro Outlook 2015-17 issued by Moody’s today. Along with Korea, the United States and the United Kingdom are also expected to grow by around 2.5 percent, the repo

South Korea aims to gradually increase the amount of funds set aside for its official development assistance program to better meet its obligations to help developing economies, the government said Tuesday.The Committee for International Development Cooperation under the prime minister's office said the size of Seoul's ODA fund will be equal to 0.2 percent of its gross national income in 2020, up from around 0.13 in 2013."The 2020 goal takes into account the country's overall fiscal conditions a

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea gained in October from a month earlier for the first time in six months, with U.S. dollar-denominated savings reaching a record high, central bank data showed Tuesday.Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by local residents came to $63.4 billion as of the end of last month, up $4.21 billion from a month earlier, snapping its five-consecutive month losing streak, according to data by the Bank of Korea.The October figure also marked the larges

Rising domestic demand in South Korea is stimulating industrial output and fueling growth momentum amid contracting exports and persistent overseas economic uncertainties, the finance ministry said Tuesday.In its latest economic assessment report called the Green Book, the ministry said consumer spending rose 1.1 percent in the third quarter from three months earlier and gained 2 percent on-year. In August, private spending began to improve following a poor showing in the second quarter.Producti

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday downgraded South Korea's 2015 economic growth outlook due to weak domestic consumption and minus export growth.In its latest Economic Outlook report, the Paris-based organization said that gross domestic product for Asia's fourth-largest economy will likely grow 2.7 percent this year, down from its previous estimate of 3 percent announced in June.The annual growth number represents a noticeable contraction from the 3.3 percent e

South Korea's export prices fell at the fastest clip in nine months in October as the local currency continued to gain ground against the U.S. dollar, the central bank said Tuesday.The export price index reached 82.12 last month, down 3.5 percent from a month earlier, the steepest monthly decline since January this year, when the figure fell 4.3 percent, according to the Bank of Korea. From a year earlier, the index fell 6.2 percent.The index for import prices also fell 3 percent on-month to 78.

The 2015 Seoul Conference on Trade & Industry aims to expand deliberations on the rise of mega free trade agreements around the world and their impact on the global economy, the government said Tuesday.The forum held in the South Korean capital and hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea International Trade Association is focused on emerging paradigms in the global trading systems such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership an

SEJONG, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Monday downgraded South Korea's 2015 economic growth outlook due to weak domestic consumption and minus export growth.In its latest Economic Outlook report, the Paris-based organization said that gross domestic product (GDP) for Asia's fourth-largest economy will likely grow 2.7 percent this year, down from its previous estimate of 3 percent announced in June.The annual growth number represents a notic

China's economic slowdown is feared to have a significant negative impact on the South Korean economy that is highly dependent on the neighboring country for its exports, a leading state think tank said Monday.In a report on the world's second-largest economy, the Korea Development Institute said that Beijing may seek to reduce overinvestment and excess production capacity, bringing the country into a deep economic funk."China is moving to adjust excessive investments that have accumulated since

Low profitability -- mainly caused by the protracted slump in the nation’s exports -- is undermining the credit standings of more companies this year, according to the three major local ratings agencies.Korea Investors Service revised down the ratings of 45 firms -- mostly affilites of conglomerates -- over the past 10 months.The 2015 figure has already surpassed the 33 posted in 2008 and 34 in 2009, when the global financial crisis hit the nation. The 45 in downgrading recorded as the highest n