A growing number of South Korean investors are fleeing to safer assets as a safe haven from the uncertainties of the global economic slowdown, industry sources said Sunday. The outstanding value of term deposits at five local lenders reached 418 trillion won ($368.7 billion) as of the end of July, up 15 trillion won from 403 trillion won tallied in December 2011, according to financial sources. The corresponding figure for household debts, however, grew a mere 0.78 percent to 2.4 trillion won in

National Pension Service outperforms assets managers on profitsDirect investments made by the National Pension Service are marking steady profits in the fluctuating stock market, according to NPS officials. The accumulative profit rate of the service’s direct investment in local stocks marked 3.48 percent for the five first months of the year, they said. The figure is far higher than the profit rate of the KOSPI, which marked 0.97 percent. Direct investment in the KOSPI made by the NPS was more

The ratio of "debt-risk" households among low-income brackets are significantly higher than the national average, a report showed Sunday, confirming that poor families are more vulnerable to worsening economic and financial conditions.According to the report by the state-run Korea Development Institute, the ratio of households deemed to have insufficient ability to pay back their debt among the na

Foreign investors offloaded local stocks for a fourth consecutive month in July mainly due to continuing external uncertainties stemming from the debt-mired eurozone, the financial regulator said Friday.Overseas investors sold off a net 710 billion won ($627.2 million) worth of local equities last month, with their shareholdings reaching 379.9 trillion won as of the end of July, the Financial Supervisory Service said.Foreign stock ownership inched up to 31.6 percent of the market cap last month

The Finance Ministry on Friday unveiled a revised tax bill which removes the additional capital gains tax burden on multiple homeowners as part of efforts to stimulate the property market. Multiple homeowners, with the exception of those possessing three or more homes in speculative regions, will be applied the same capital gains tax rates as those who own a single home when selling their houses. The bill also includes raising the minimum tax rate for large companies that receive various tax ben

Regulator poised to intervene in KDIC’s probe of savings banksFinancial regulators are sticking their noses into the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp.’s independent investigative authority over mutual savings banks, many of which it failed to supervise.The situation comes after the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service hindered the National Assembly from allowing the Bank of Korea to independently conduct a probe of financial firms last year.The FSS is in talks with the

The average price of houses in South Korea dropped for the first time in two years, related data showed Thursday, offering another clear indication of the country’s struggling housing market.The average price of homes across the country dropped 0.1 percent from a month earlier in July, according to the data released by Kookmin Bank, the largest bank in South Korea. July marks the first time since July 2010 the average price of houses dropped from the previous month.The drop was partly led by a d

South Korean stocks fell 0.56 percent Thursday following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s announcement of no fresh action to boost the slowing economy, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 10.53 points to 1,869.4. Trading volume was light at 267.4 million shares worth 3.35 trillion won ($2.96 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 446 to 342.“The meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee’s was somewhat disappointing

Growth of South Koreans’ credit card spending decelerated in the first half from a year earlier mainly due to the local economy’s slowdown, a trade association said Thursday.Purchases made with credit cards totaled 253.2 trillion won ($224.8 billion) in the January-June period, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the Credit Finance Association.When adjusted for inflation, the increase rate was less than 6 percent, the association added. The figure lags behind 17.7 percent on-year gr

The government will play a role in cushioning risks from a possible failure to purchase sufficient grain products in the face of concerns that rising international crop prices could increase food costs and overall inflationary pressure here, the finance minister said Thursday.“As international crop prices are recently spiking in the wake of droughts that hit the United States and South America, fears are rising over agflation,” Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan told a price stabilization meeting.“We

Financial firms seize assets, salaries as value of loan collateral dipsA consumer group is planning a class action against financial institutions for seizing the assets and salaries of mortgage borrowers as property prices nosedive. The Financial Consumer Agency said an estimated 1 million people who took out some 10 trillion won ($8.85 billion) in mortgage loans are “unreasonably pressured” by financial firms to pay back the loans as they near maturity and home prices plummet.The FCA said Thurs

Three customers have filed a compensation suit against local banks, arguing that they suffered damage from the banks' alleged collusion to rig interest rates on certificates of deposit (CD) that are tied to interest rates on home mortgage loans, court sources said Thursday.The lawsuit is the first to be filed since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the country's anti-trust watchdog, began looking i

The government and the ruling Saenuri Party agreed Wednesday on raising the minimum tax rate for large firms that receive various tax benefits from the current 14 percent to 15 percent.The revised tax bill also includes lowering the tax cut limits for big businesses; imposing taxes on financial income of more than 30 million won, down from the current 40 million won; expanding taxation on gains from stock transfers by major shareholders; and introducing transaction taxes on derivatives. The Saen

A survey of local financial experts conducted by the Bank of Korea in July showed that a majority of them see a high chance of a “systemic risk” occurring in the next three years.Of the 74 respondents, 52.7 percent said the possibility of a systemic risk, or the risk of collapse of an entire financial system or entire market, occurring between one to four years from now was high. Twelve percent answered the opposite.As for the probability of a systemic risk occurring within a year, 27.1 percent