The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Monday they will invest $15 million (18.4 billion won) in the Asian Development Bank’s upcoming new fund program to help early-stage startups here to expand their business into Southeast Asia regions.  The Ventures Facility Investment Fund is aimed at financing small and medium-sized companies in business sectors like agriculture, public sanitation or fintech that foster sustainable economic growth in Southeast A

South Korea on Monday sharply slashed its growth estimate for the year, but expected a strong economic rebound next year on the back of massive fiscal spending, vowing to adopt "all possible means" to help Asia's fourth-largest economy chug along amid the pandemic. The finance ministry revised down its growth outlook to 0.1 percent from the 2.4 percent forecast late last year. Such a sharp cut follows the outbreak of the new coronavirus that has infected more than 6 million people g

Imminent extra budget speculated to surpass W30tr

South Korean stocks closed sharply higher Monday on hopes of a quick economic recovery prompted by a government push for a third supplementary budget and eased concerns over tensions between the United States and China. The Korean won sharply rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged 35.48 points, or 1.75 percent, to close at 2,065.08, the highest reading since March 5. Trading volume was moderate at about 982.5 million shares worth some 9.6 tri

South Korea’s biotech firm SCM Lifescience said Monday it has decided to lower its initial public offering price range to attract more investors for its market debut this month on the Kosdaq. By issuing 1.8 million new common shares, each at between 14,000 won ($11.40) and 17,000 won, the biotech firm is looking to raise up 30.6 billion won, SCM Lifescience CEO Rhee Byung-geon said in a press briefing. Under the plan, the firm’s market capitalization after listing is anticipated t

The rate of bailout funds recouped from companies that borrowed from the government since the 1997 Asian financial crisis rose 0.1 percent in the first quarter to 69.3 percent, the country’s financial regulator said Monday. As of end-March, the government had retrieved a total of 116.8 trillion won out of the 168.7 trillion won extended to companies struggled to survive in the 1997 and 2008 financial crises, according to the Financial Services Commission. The retrieval of taxpayers&rsq

Seoul-based KB Asset Management said Monday it has launched an open-ended fund that invests in exchange-traded funds at home and abroad, powered by its own artificial neural network for automated portfolio allocation. The new ETF managed portfolio fund, dubbed KB All Asset AI Solution Fund, will target various ETFs -- or a basket of securities -- that each track asset classes such as stocks, bonds, loans, real estate investment trusts and commodities. Its portfolio will be automatically rebal

South Korean institutions' investment in foreign securities dropped in the first quarter, central bank data showed Monday, partly due to a market slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The combined value of overseas stocks and bonds held by South Korean institutions came to $317.8 billion as of end-March, down $9.61 billion from three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The drop marks a sharp turnaround from a $14.6 billion on-quarter spike posted in the last t

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, buoyed by the milder-than-expected US countermeasures against China's passing of the national securities law on Hong Kong. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 14.83 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,044.43 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The gains were largely attributed to a recent announcement by US President Donald Trump. The US president's sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials came with harsh rhetoric yet lacke

South Korea’s exports continued to fall in May, marking a double-digit percentage decline for the second consecutive month, according to a government report on Monday. The extended decline was largely due to the global economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry explained. Shipments of semiconductor products, however, bounced back, which alleviated the extended decline, it added. The nation’s outbound shipments in May dropped by 23.7 percent on-year to $34.8 bill

The Korea Herald is running a regular contribution series written by senior investment strategists at Standard Chartered Group Wealth Management. -- Ed. Prices of Asian US dollar-denominated corporate bonds have fallen this year. This raises the question: do they now offer attractive value? The average yield premium offered by the bonds over US Treasury yields (credit spread) looks more attractive than it has been in many years, despite the recent rebound. However, one cannot help but worry

An audit review committee under South Korea’s financial regulator has concluded that tobacco maker KT&G did not intentionally violate accounting rules when it acquired an Indonesian firm in 2011, according to news reports Sunday. The latest decision, when officially announced, will likely help the Korean tobacco giant to eliminate delisting concerns. In a meeting last Thursday, the committee reportedly decided that the breach of local accounting rules was mere “gross negli

The combined market cap value of South Korea’s 10 largest companies account for almost 45 percent of the entire market, as IT and bio companies gained popularity amid the continued COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Sunday. According to the country’s bourse operator Korea Exchange, out of the 789 listed companies on the main bourse Kospi, the top 10 companies accounted for 44.7 percent in market cap as of Friday. The figure was up 2.6 percentage point from Jan. 2 this year -- before

T he outstanding loans extended to local companies and households here increased by a combined 75.4 trillion won ($73 billion) from February to April, when the economic risks stemming from the novel coronavirus pushed them to the brink, data showed Sunday. The figure has increased nearly triple on-year, rising from when businesses and households borrowed a combined 21.9 trillion won, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea and the policymaking Financial Services Commission. The outsta

South Korea’s volume of short-term floating capital -- so-called “idle funds” -- surpassed 1,100 trillion won ($901 billion), hitting a record-high amid the prolonged COVID-19 crisis and the continued low rate trend, data showed Sunday. The volume of cash, demand deposits, money market funds and other types classified as idle funds reached 1,106.3 trillion won as of end-March, up by around 10 trillion won on-month, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea and the Korea