South Korea plans to provide more than 80 percent of another extra budget-funded relief aid to pandemic-hit smaller merchants by May, a senior government official said Friday. The National Assembly on Thursday approved the 15 trillion-won ($13 billion) extra budget designed to finance the 20.7 trillion-won aid package for the self-employed and vulnerable groups battered by the pandemic. Second Vice Finance Minister An Il-whan said more than 80 percent of the 7.3 trillion-won budget set aside t

South Korea will step up efforts to ease growing inflationary pressure as hikes in global grain prices have jacked up prices of processed products, a senior government official said Friday. Vice First Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom also said the government plans to consider measures to ease financial burdens of businesses that have suffered from hikes in raw material prices. "People have felt higher price pressures as prices of processed goods, such as ready-to-eat steamed rice, bread and

South Korea plans to unveil a set of measures next week to root out property speculation by public officials amid a mounting public outcry over a land speculation scandal by public officials, the finance minister said Friday. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki stressed the government is preparing to come up with measures to eradicate property speculation and illegal practices, and prevent the recurrence of similar cases. "(With the measures), the government plans to apply very strict standards

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, taking a cue from overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 13.34 points, or 0.44 percent, to 3,021.67 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.62 percent on improved jobless data, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 adding 0.12 percent and 0.52 percent, respectively. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics gained 0.37 percent, and N

South Korea's consumer sentiment rose for a third consecutive month in March, as exports showed signs of a modest recovery amid the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, central bank data showed Friday. The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) came in at 100.5 for March, up 3.1 points from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The latest reading marks the third on-month gain following a drop in December las

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday sharply raised its growth outlook for South Korea this year, citing robust exports and the country's fiscal policy support amid the pandemic. The IMF forecast the South Korean economy to grow 3.6 percent this year, up from its estimate in January of 3.1 percent. The upward revision came as the IMF issued a report on the outcome of its annual consultation with South Korea held in January. The IMF said Asia's fourth-largest economy is expected to

Activist group’s claims of financial ties with military-backed companies puts S. Korean banks’ ESG drive, overseas expansion in dilemma

SEJONG -- South Korea’s benchmark interest rate has been set at an all-time low of 0.5 percent per annum for 10 months since May last year, as the central bank tries to prop up a lackluster economy that has faltered in the wake of the novel coronavirus. The record-low rate could benefit many households and micro-business owners who resort to financial loans in this unexpected situation. But the Bank of Korea will have no choice but to conduct rate hikes eventually on a mid-term basis, g

South Korean stocks snapped their four-day losing streak Thursday as investors bought undervalued shares on expectations of a rebound amid eased virus concerns. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 11.98 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 3,008.33 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 922 million shares worth some 13.1 trillion won ($11.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 460 to 374. Foreigners sold a net 82 b

Seen as new blue chip in market, ESG-themed funds on the rise -- but no tools exist to measure value, authenticity

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea CEO Bang Moon-kyu was named the richest public official in a financial institution, with net worth amounting to some 5.9 billion won ($5.2 million) as of end-2020, data by the public service ethics committee here showed Thursday. The data disclosed by the committee under the Ministry of Personnel Management also took assets owned by the officials’ family members into account. The value of Bang’s net assets, including real estate, gained 8

Amid the stock investment boom, the number of women investing in stocks in South Korea has doubled over the past four years, according to data compiled by the Korea Securities Depository on Thursday. While the number of stock investors in Asia’s fourth-largest economy recorded 9.19 million, the number of female stock traders came to 3.88 million as of the end of December last year, up from 1.94 million four years earlier, the data showed. The growth rate for female stock investors, 77.8

Seoul-based real estate investment firm Mastern Investment Management said on Thursday that its subsidiary in the United States, Mastern America, began operation earlier this week. The launch will help Mastern, which was overseeing 21.7 trillion won ($19.1 billion) worth of assets as of March, to streamline its onsite due diligence for its outbound investment into the US market, enhance its capability for deal-sourcing and portfolio property management in the US and foster partnerships with US

SEJONG -- The value of construction contracts in South Korea jumped nearly 19 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 thanks to increased private and public projects, government data showed Thursday. The value of civilian and public works contracts stood at 82.4 trillion won ($72.7 billion) in the October-December period, up 18.7 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Public sector contracts swelled 24.9 percent on-

South Korea's central bank said Thursday it will extend financial support for smaller merchants and firms by six months to help them ease a funding squeeze amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial support of low-rate loans worth 16 trillion won ($14.1 billion) had been scheduled to end this month, but the Bank of Korea (BOK) said the scheme will be put in place by September. Under the scheme, the BOK provides funds to local banks at an interest rate of 0.25 percent to encourage them to exte