The South Korean won ended slightly higher against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, snapping a four-session losing streak that sent the currency tumbling to a five-year low in the previous session.The local currency, which weakened against the greenback in morning trade, recouped its losses to close up 2.8 won against the greenback at 1,200.9 won.On Monday, the local currency sank to the lowest level in more than five years in tandem with growing demand for safer assets amid lingering uncertainties a

South Korea's economy is recovering from the second-quarter slump triggered by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak, but weak exports are weighing on its growth, the finance ministry said Tuesday.In its latest economic report called the Green Book, the ministry said consumer spending, business investment and hiring all showed signs of improvement in July as the MERS scare waned. The viral disease, first confirmed on May 20, has claimed 36 lives and infected 186 people, although no new c

South Korea has opted to maintain an expansionary fiscal policy stance for 2016 as the country seeks to prop up its economy struggling with sagging exports and anemic consumption, observers said Tuesday.The government's 2016 budget proposal calls for a 3 percent on-year rise with spending hitting 386.7 trillion won ($324.6 billion), compared with 375.4 trillion won in 2015. The increase comes despite a government projection that a drop in tax revenue and demand for more outlays will push up stat

The government seeks to hike its spending for next year by a modest 3 percent from this year to give the country's economy a much-need shot in the arm amid unfavorable domestic and external conditions, the finance ministry said Tuesday.The government will ask the National Assembly to approve its 386.7 trillion won ($324.6 billion) budget for 2016, larger than the 375.4 trillion won earmarked for 2015. The budget proposal, endorsed by the Cabinet on Tuesday, will be sent to the National Assembly

South Korea is emerging from the fallout of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak, but slumping exports are posing a threat to the economic recovery, a state-run think tank said Sunday.According to the Korea Development Institute, Asia's fourth-largest economy underwent a smaller-than-expected contraction in consumption with business investment posting a moderate on-year increase in July compared with growth figures posted for the month before."The effect of MERS is clearly on the wane i

South Korea will lower its growth forecast for 2016 in the face of an economic slowdown in China, the country's top export market, Seoul's top economic czar said in an interview released online by the Wall Street Journal on Friday.  On the sidelines of the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Ankara, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan told the news outlet that South Korea's growth rate will be revised down to 3.3 percent for next year from the 3.5 percent estimate made in June.  The downgrade

Loans extended to the self-employed by South Korean lenders spiked by more than 24 trillion won ($20 billion) in the past year since retired baby boomers opted to open their own businesses, data showed Friday.  Local banks' outstanding loans to the self-employed reached 222.9 trillion won as of the end of June, up 12.3 percent from 198.5 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data submitted to Rep. Kim Gi-juhn of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy by the Financial Supervisory Service

Foreigners swiped less with their credit cards during their stays in South Korea in the April-June period as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak led to a fall in the number of visitors to the country, data showed Friday.  Foreigners' card spending in the country totaled $2.73 billion in the second quarter, slipping 1 percent from $2.76 billion three months earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. From a year earlier, it also dipped 6.4 percent.  The local retail and tourism

The nation’s gross national income posted minus growth in the second quarter of the year, dropping 0.1 percent from the previous quarter, data from the Bank of Korea showed Thursday. This is the first time in 4 1/2 years that the country marked negative GNI growth on a quarter-to-quarter basis, after the index fell below zero to -1.9 percent during the fourth quarter of 2010.The GNI refers to the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, including their salaries, finan

South Korea's minister urged lawmakers Thursday to swiftly approve free trade agreements with China and Vietnam in order to turn around slumping exports.  Seoul formally signed the FTA with China, its largest trading partner and the world's No. 2 economy, on June 1, while the pact with Vietnam was reached in May.     In a meeting with reporters in Sejong City, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick stressed the two countries represent South Korea's first- and third-largest oversea

South Korea's economic growth slowed in the second quarter of this year from three months earlier due to the fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak and one of the worst droughts in a century, revised central bank data showed Thursday.  The economy grew 0.3 percent in the April-June period, sharply decelerating from the 0.8 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.  The quarterly reading matches the central bank's earlier es

Home-backed loans extended by South Korean banks gained at the fastest clip in five years in August, industry data showed Wednesday, due to increased home transactions and a rise in apartment prices.   Outstanding mortgage loans by the country's six major commercial banks, including Kookmin and KEB Hana, reached 327.9 trillion won ($278 billion) as of end-August, up 6.4 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data.  The monthly gain marks the sharpest rise for the month of August