Bank lending rates on new home-backed loans in South Korea edged down in September from a month earlier amid a record-low policy rate, central bank data showed Thursday.The average rate for fresh mortgages extended to households came in at 2.92 percent last month, down 0.02 percentage point from August, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea.The numbers for household loans including mortgages dipped 0.02 percentage point on-month to 3.11 percent, while that for corporate lending edg

South Korea's state-run power monopoly said Thursday that it has inked a smart grid system deal with Dubai that can lead to more business opportunities down the road.The $3 million agreement with Dubai Electricity & Water Authority signed in the United Arab Emirates is the first smart grid building contract secured by the company in the Middle East, Korea Electric Power Corp. said. The project calls for the building of a smart grid station that includes solar power generation and energy storage

The Federal Reserve is keeping its key short-term interest rate at a record low in light of a weak global economy, slower U.S. hiring and subpar inflation. But it signaled the possibility of a rate hike in December.A statement the Fed issued Wednesday said it would monitor job growth and inflation to determine “whether it will be appropriate to raise the target range” for its benchmark rate at its next meeting.It marked the first time in seven years of record-low rates that the central bank has

A majority of companies in South Korea are pessimistic about business outlooks for next month due to worries over the Chinese economy and a possible rate hike in the U.S., a poll showed Thursday.According to the survey conducted on 600 South Korean companies by the Federation of Korean Industries, the business survey index for November stood at 95.9.A reading below 100 means companies that are pessimistic about business conditions down the road outnumber optimists.After peaking at 103.7 in March

The top 10 percent of South Koreans control 66 percent of the country's wealth, with the inequality gap becoming more acute over time, a report showed Thursday.According to the report by Kim Nak-nyeon, an economics professor at Seoul's Dongguk University, Asia's fourth-largest economy is encumbered by a sizable difference in wealth between the haves and have-nots.While the rich monopolized wealth that includes both financial and property holdings, the lower 50 percent only accounted for 2 percen

South Korea's credit card spending hit a record high in the third quarter, data showed Thursday, pointing to a recovery in domestic demand from the fallout of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak.Total card spending reached 166.5 trillion won ($147.1 billion) in the July-September period, up 13.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association.It marks the first time that the purchases made with credit cards broke the 160 trillion-won mark,

South Korean banks' household lending continued to grow at a fast clip in September amid rising demand for mortgage loans, the financial watchdog said Thursday.Outstanding household loans by local lenders reached 615.1 trillion won ($543.9 billion) as of end last month, up 6.2 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The September gain was slightly lower than the 7.7 trillion won on-month rise in August. Home-backed mortgages rose 5.9 trillion won on-mont

The Korea National Food Cluster, or Foodpolis, is the strongest pick of headquarters for foreign food companies seeking to enter markets in Asian economies, the Korean Agriculture Ministry said Wednesday.　In a press conference for foreign journalists, Lee Ju-myeung, director general of the food industry policy unit in the ministry, said that the world’s first state-supported food cluster offers a balanced incentive package that exceeds other food clusters in practicality. 　“We offer more than ju

The South Korean economy is expected to grow 3 percent in 2016 from this year amid a prolonged slump in exports and a delay in the recovery of domestic demand, a major think tank said Wednesday.The forecast by the Korea Institute of Finance is grimmer than the government's prediction of 3.3 percent and the Bank of Korea's 3.2 percent projection. But it is slightly higher than forecasts made by South Korean private economic think tanks.The KIF also predicted Asia's fourth-largest economy to expan

South Korea's housing market continued to show signs of improvement in the third quarter, aided by a significant rise in the number of home transactions, as well as a steady increase in prices, a report showed Wednesday.In the three-month period ending on Sept. 30, home transactions spiked 21 percent on-year to 290,937, according to the report by the state-run Korea Development Institute.The sharp increase follows the 39.1 percent on-year surge in the second quarter and the 18.3 percent gain tal

Electricity consumption by South Korea's industrial sector rose moderately from a year earlier in the third quarter, fueled by higher demand from automakers, chemical producers and machinery equipment companies, the government said Wednesday.Sales of industrial electricity came to 68.63 billion kilowatt-hours in the July-September period, up 1 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Electricity sales serve as a barometer of industrial activ

Construction permits issued for new homes jumped 21 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday, underscoring a strong sign of recovery in the country's real estate market.The number of new home permits issued came to 70,121 units in the July-September period, up from 58,024 from the year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The third-quarter rise marked the ninth consecutive on-quarter increase, with the pace a

The head of South Korea's central bank drew a rather gloomy picture for the future of the local and global economies Wednesday, saying they both face great uncertainties caused by the world's two largest economies."It is hard to think of a time when the domestic and global economies did not face uncertainties, but I believe the keyword that best describes recent conditions in the global economy is uncertainty," Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a monthly breakfast meeting with economic scho