South Korea’s potential economic growth is expected to remain in the mid-3 percent range in the next five years due to sluggish investment and a lack of new growth engines, a parliamentary report said Thursday.The National Assembly Budget Office forecast the nation’s potential growth rate to average 3.6 percent in the 2014-2018 period, which is the pace at which annual output can expand without pushing up inflation. The potential growth rate had stood at 5.2 percent in 2001 and 2002, but fell to

South Korea's export growth is likely to rise in the fourth quarter led by the semiconductor and petrochemical sectors, while automakers and steelmakers may suffer, the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said Thursday.According to the survey conducted by KOTRA on 2,142 trading company officials last month, South Korea's leading export index for the October-December period came to 52.1 points, up 0.8 from the previous quarter.A reading above 50 translates into more exports,

South Korea’s exports of industrial parts and materials reached a record high in the first nine months of the year with the country’s trade surplus in the sector expected to top $100 billion for the first time in its history this year, the government said Wednesday.In the January-September period, outbound shipments of industrial parts and materials came to $203.3 billion, up 4.1 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The amount also accou

South Korea will inject an additional 5 trillion won (US$4.69 billion) worth of policy funds this year to revive the slowing economic recovery, the finance ministry said Wednesday.The injection is in addition to 26 trillion won that the government had set aside for this year as part of its 41 trillion won worth of stimulus measures. The government also plans to allow more duty-free shops to open in Seoul and other major cities in a bid to bolster consumption by foreign travelers, including a gro

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) kept its growth estimate for South Korea's economy at 3.7 percent for 2014 on Tuesday while predicting Asia's fourth-largest economy will expand 4 percent next year."In Korea, growth should rise from 3.7 percent this year to 4.0 percent in 2015, led by exports and investment," the Washington-headquartered institute said in its new World Economic Outlook issued ahead of the 2014 fall meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.The estimate for this year's growth i

South Korea's business community has set up a consultative group aimed at reflecting their interests in ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) talks with China, the country's international traders' organization said Monday.According to Korea International Trade Association (KITA), the group will hold regular talks with government policymakers to not only push for more openness in China's manufacturing and service sectors, but to get timely feedback on what headway is being made.The first working lev

The South Korean economy is expected to expand 3.6 percent in 2015 from this year amid sluggish private consumption and low inflation, a private think tank forecast Sunday. The Hyundai Research Institute predicted Asia’s fourth-largest economy will likely grow 3.5 percent in the first half of next year and gain 3.6 percent in the second half.The think tank’s 2015 outlook is the same as its forecast of 3.6 percent for this year.HRI’s growth forecast for next year, however, is lower than a 4 perce

New foreign direct investment pledged to South Korea jumped 38 percent on-year in the first nine months of this year despite slowing economic growth at home and abroad, the government said Sunday.In the January-September period, the amount of new FDI pledges to South Korea came to $14.82 billion, up 37.9 percent from a year earlier and the highest-ever figure for the nine-month period, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The amount of new FDI that arrived here during the per

South Korea’s household loans extended by financial institutions are expected to surpass the 1 quadrillion won ($942.6 billion) mark this year, data showed Sunday.Outstanding household loans by financial institutions, including commercial lenders, insurers and financial agencies stood at 982.5 trillion won as of the end of the second quarter, according to data from the Bank of Korea. As of end-August, household loans reached 993 trillion won. If the trend keeps up, the country’s household loans

South Korea's central bank is expected to slash its key interest rate in October in the wake of its August rate cut due to a slow recovery in the country's economy and volatile foreign exchange rates, market watchers said Sunday.In August, the Bank of Korea cut the base rate to 2.25 percent from 2.5 percent, the first rate reduction in 15 months, in an effort to lend support to the government's efforts to boost the economy. Last month, the central bank froze the rate as widely expected.The BOK i