The Korea Herald

BOK to keep accommodative monetary policy in 2017

Dec 29, 2016

South Korea's central bank said Thursday it will maintain an accommodative monetary policy next year, while staying focused on financial market stability.With the local economy expected to continue "modest" growth, "high uncertainties" are persistent, the Bank of Korea pointed out in a report on its monetary strategy.It forecast 2-percent-range growth of Asia's fourth-biggest economy in 2017. The BOK cited the slowing expansion of civilian consumption and construction investment despite a slight
Savings banks see 'uninsured' deposits soar

Dec 29, 2016

South Korean savings banks have seen their "uninsured" deposits almost double over the past two years as people seek higher returns amid low interest rates, data showed Thursday.According to the data by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp., deposits of 50 million won ($41,200) or more per account at local savings banks totaled 5.7 trillion won as of end-September, with people and firms holding such accounts numbering 45,000.Of the total, deposits exceeding the 50 million-won mark stood at 3.56 tril
Korea to use all means possible to beef up economy: acting president

Dec 29, 2016

South Korea's Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Thursday the government will employ all possible means to cope with the faltering economy."To make a turnaround from the recent slowdown soon, it is important for the government and public sector to actively boost the economy by mobilizing all available resources," Hwang said during a meeting of finance and economic ministers to discuss policy priorities for 2017. Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn speaks during
Egg and chicken prices move in opposite directions, as bird flu spreads

Dec 29, 2016

The outbreak of bird flu and the subsequent massive culling of poultry in South Korea have sent local egg prices skyrocketing 20 percent this month, industry data said Thursday.In contrast, however, demand for chicken nosedived apparently due to growing safety concern among consumers, pushing down poultry prices, they said.The price of a carton of 30 eggs has spiked by some 20 percent this month compared with the previous month to over 7,200 won ($5.96) at Homeplus, one of the major retailers in
Winter cold pushes power consumption to 3-month high

Dec 29, 2016

South Korea's electricity consumption has shot up to the highest in three months as temperatures dropped to the lowest so far this winter, the operator of the country's power market said Thursday.According to the state-run Korea Power Exchange (KPX), peak power demand reached around 79.2 million kilowatts (kW) on Wednesday, the highest since Aug. 25, mainly due to increased power consumption amid a drop in temperature.The country's reserve electricity stood at 11.3 million kW, with the electrici
Korea's industrial output rebounds in Nov.

Dec 29, 2016

South Korea's industrial output rebounded in November snapping the second consecutive month of decline on the back of a gain in semiconductors and cars, government data showed Thursday.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries rose 4.8 percent last month from a year ago, according to the data by Statistics Korea.The November figure marked the first on-year gain in three months, following a 1.9 percent drop in September and 1.3 percent fall in October.It also reached
Korea cuts 2017 growth forecast to 2.6% from 3%

Dec 29, 2016

South Korea on Thursday cut its economic growth forecast by 0.4 percentage point to 2.6 percent for next year, as a slight recovery in exports will be offset by a slowdown in domestic demand.It also revised down its earlier estimate for 2016 to 2.6 percent from 2.8 percent as stronger-than-expected downside risks such as partial strikes at major carmakers weighed heavily on Asia's fourth-largest economy in the fourth quarter. South Korea's Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho speaks at a press briefing in
Korean households' excess funds nosedive in Q3

Dec 28, 2016

Excess funds held by South Korean households plummeted in the third quarter of this year on increased purchases of new houses, official data showed Wednesday.Surplus funds held by households here, including nonprofit organizations, totaled 1.9 trillion won ($1.5 billion) during the July-September period, a sharp fall from 14.1 trillion in the previous quarter, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. An image of home purchases in a photo provided by Yonhap News TV. (Yonhap)It cited
Interest rates keep climbing in November: BOK data

Dec 28, 2016

South Korea's market interest rates continued to ascend in November amid expectations of the incoming US administration's stimulus policy, coupled with indications of a firm economic recovery, central bank data showed Wednesday.The local banks' average interest rate for new savings deposits was 1.51 percent that month, up 0.1 percentage point from October, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The rate on fresh loans rose 0.07 percentage point on-month to 3.36 percent. An ad for mortgage loans b
Korea's tax burden to GDP ratio expected to hit record high in 2017

Dec 27, 2016

South Korea's ratio of tax burden to the gross domestic product will likely reach an all-time high of 19.6 percent next year on increased government spending, the finance ministry said Tuesday.Government spending has been on a steady rise for years in a way to buttress Asia's fourth-largest economy suffering from faltering exports and sluggish domestic demand.For 2016, it mapped out a 398 trillion won budget, including a 10 trillion won supplementary budget, and came up with a 400.5 trillion won
Consumer sentiment keeps diving amid economic slowdown

Dec 27, 2016

South Korea's overall consumer sentiment hit the lowest in nearly eight years last month, the central bank said Tuesday, amid a prolonged economic slump.The composite consumer sentiment index came to 94.2 in December, the same recorded in April 2009, according to the Bank of Korea data.It marks a 1.6-point fall from a month earlier.A reading below the standard 100, based on related average figures between 2003 and 2015, means pessimists outnumber optimists in terms of consumer sentiment.A separa
Record-breaking 17 million foreign tourists expected this year

Dec 26, 2016

Foreign tourists arrivals in South Korea are expected to surpass a record high of 17 million people this year on the back of a sharp increase in Chinese tourists, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday.The number of foreign tourists to South Korea fell 6.8 percent on year in 2015, hit by the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus.In the first 11 months of this year, the number of foreign tourists to South Korea jumped 31.2 percent on year, according to the ministry
Korea's exports to Vietnam, New Zealand gain ground on FTAs

Dec 26, 2016

South Korea's exports to Vietnam and New Zealand rose over the past year to a large extent on the back of the implementation of bilateral free trade pacts amid sluggish global demand, latest customs data showed Monday.Outbound shipments of South Korean-made goods to Vietnam jumped 15.2 percent on-year to $29.4 billion between January and November, with the free trade agreement with Vietnam taking effect on Dec. 20, 2015, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service.Exports of semiconductor
S. Koreans' spending on weekends twice as much as weekdays: BOK

Dec 24, 2016

South Koreans spend the most on weekends, the country's central bank data showed Saturday, as they spend more time with families and friends for eating out, travel and entertainment on weekends.A survey on 2,500 adults over the period of June and July found that South Koreans spend the most on Saturdays with 22.4 percent in terms of payment, followed by Sundays with 21.4 percent, according to the Bank of Korea.People 60 or older spend 25.7 percent on Saturdays, it said.South Korean spend the lea
Number of new companies falls in 2015 amid protracted economic slump

Dec 23, 2016

The number of newly established companies in South Korea fell slightly last year amid a protracted economic slump, government data showed Friday.Some 813,000 new businesses were created in 2015, down 30,000 from 843,000 tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.They took up 14.6 percent of the 5.55 million "operational companies" doing business in South Korea last year, down from 15.2 percent in 2014.The number of firms that closed in 2014 rose by 112,000 to 777,