South Korea's consumer prices rose by less than 1 percent for the third consecutive month in July, government data showed Tuesday, amid a flaccid economic recovery.The country's consumer price index rose 0.7 percent last month from a year earlier, marking the lowest on-year gain in 10 months, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The figure grew 0.8 percent on-year both in June and May, after rising 1 percent or more during the February-April period.From a month earlier, the index e

In a meeting of government officials and corporate executives convened last week to discuss how to boost exports, Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan called for strengthened efforts to put an end to a record streak of on-year monthly declines in Korea’s outbound shipments since the start of last year.He saw August as a crucial period to test whether the country could make a turnaround in exports, noting the pace of decrease has been decelerating in recent months.As adverse factors that might leave the

In its economic outlook report released Monday, the Bank of Korea forecast that the nation’s trade volume this year would amount to $901 billion, with $497 billion in exports and $404 billion in imports.

Korea extends record surplus on falling oil prices

The number of South Korean business groups' affiliates subject to restrictions on mutual investments and loan guarantees rose in July from a month earlier, the antitrust watchdog said Monday.The Fair Trade Commission said the number of firms on its monthly watch list stood at 1,781 as of end-July, up 11 from the previous month.Such affiliates are owned by the country's 65 largest business groups, including Samsung Group, Hyundai Motor Group and Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's top mobi

South Korea's property and real estate rental industry contracted in the second quarter for the first time in more than four years due to the sluggish market, central bank data showed Monday.According to the Bank of Korea's latest data on gross domestic product, the real estate and rental sector shrank 0.2 percent in the April-June period from three months earlier.It marks the first on-quarter decline since the fourth quarter of 2011, when the industry declined 0.6 percent from three months earl

The delinquency rate for South Korean bank loans to large companies soared in June from the previous month due mainly to a one-off factor, data showed Monday.Local banks saw the delinquency rate of their lending to big businesses stand at 2.17 percent at the end of June, up 0.81 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. From a year earlier, the figure was up 1.49 percentage points.Loans are considered delinquent when payment of both princi

South Korea's exports fell by more than 10 percent in July, with the rate of decline returning to double digits after single digits in May and June, the trade ministry said Monday.Outbound shipments came to $41 billion last month, down 10.2 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The July figure marked a record 19th straight month that exports decreased since January 2015.The double-digit fall came after on-year declines of 5.9 percent and 2

South Korea's current account surplus soared to a record high in June as an increased surplus in the goods balance helped offset a widening service account deficit, data showed Monday.The current account surplus reached $12.17 billion in June, compared with an $11.87 billion surplus from a year earlier, according to the provisional data released by the Bank of Korea.The current account is the biggest measure of cross-border trade.The June figure is the highest since 1980, when the central bank b

South Korea's five major banks sold property assets worth nearly 75 billion won ($67 million) in the first half, far exceeding the 70 billion won for the whole of last year, data from the banks showed Sunday.The move is part of their efforts to ride out declines in their net interest margins, which measure how much a bank earns from its loan and securities portfolios, amid record-low interest rates, bank officials said."Faced with ever-declining interest rates, banks felt the need to cut costs b

Nearly 4 out of every 10 major South Korean companies expect their business conditions to further deteriorate in the remainder of the year, while more than 4 in 10 said their H1 earnings fell short of earlier expectations, the outcome of a recent survey released Sunday showed.In a survey conducted by the Federation of Korean Industries, 38.7 percent of respondents said they expected their annual earnings to fall short of earlier expectations.The survey was conducted on the country's top 600 comp

The average monthly wage of a regular worker at a business with more than five employees stood at 3,133,000 won ($2,796) in May, up 2.9 percent from a year ago, the labor ministry said Friday. That of a temporary worker or day-worker posted 1,431,000 won in that month, up 2.3 percent on year, the ministry said, citing the outcome of its latest survey of some 25,000 businesses in all industries except agriculture.                      Workers in finance and insurance earned the most at 5,367,000

South Korean shares closed lower Friday as investors remained cautious following the disappointing stimulus measures made by the Bank of Japan. The Korean won rose against the U.S. dollar.After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 4.91 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,016.19. Trade volume recorded 361.38 million shares worth 4.96 trillion won ($4.42 billion), with decliners outnumbering advancers 457 to 350Local shares started higher after the U.S. Federal Reserve on

[THE INVESTOR] Rent has become the biggest contributing factor to inflation since 2013, a Bank of Korea report showed on July 29.According to the report, rent has come to account for 0.36 percentage points of the 1.1 percent consumer price rise recorded between the beginning of 2013 and June this year. In comparison, rent accounted for 0.29 percent of the inflation rate of 3.1 percent recorded for 2006 to 2012 period. The changes are thought to have been fueled by the spike in residential proper

[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s economy will grow at a slightly higher pace in 2017, the Bank of Korea projected.In the monetary policy report submitted to the National Assembly on July 29, the BOK said that next year will see a small increase in growth rate compared to the upper 2 percent range forecast for this year. “The domestic economy is following an improving trend since the first quarter, but due to increasing uncertainties at home and abroad, growth rate for the year will be in the higher