The South Korean central bank is expected to raise the country's key rate this month to curb the overheated property market, a global research firm said Sunday."We believe the Bank of Korea will hike the policy rate by 25 basis points (0.25 percentage point) to a terminal rate of 1.75 percent in November 2018 in response to financial imbalances associated with higher house prices," Nomura Financial Investment Co. said in its latest report. Citing low inflation pressure and weak s

South Korean stocks will have upward momentum next week, albeit limited, as economic and political uncertainties that had weighed down the market have cleared up after the midterm elections and the interest rates decision in the United States, experts here said Saturday.　The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,086.09 on Friday, down 0.47 percent from the previous week.　All eyes were on the midterm elections in the U.S. this week, which had added volatility to the loca

South Korea’s financial institutions suffered insolvency of asset-backed commercial papers Friday at midnight, following a Chinese firm’s default on payments due for bonds.The ABCPs were backed by dollar-denominated bonds worth $150 million that were declared insolvent Thursday. This accounts for some 7 percent of all bonds issued by CERCG Overseas Capital, a Hong Kong subsidiary of China Energy Reserve & Chemicals Group. ABCPs refer to short-term money-market securities collater

Struggling with weak job numbers and slack facility investment, President Moon Jae-in Friday tapped a veteran fiscal policy expert as the new finance minister who will spearhead his signature income-led growth policy.The nomination of Hong Nam-ki, currently chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, comes as the South Korean economy is showing signs of a slowdown amid internal and external challenges.Some economic data have even hinted that Seoul maybe heading towards a period of ec

South Korean stocks ended lower Friday as investors took a breather amid signals of tighter monetary policy in the United States. The South Korean currency weakened against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 6.54 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 2,086.09. Trading volume was relatively light at 292.94 million shares worth 5.15 trillion won ($4.57 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 463 to 363. Institutions unloaded shares worth 288.3 billion won, offsett

The replacement of the nation’s top two economic policymakers had long been speculated as inevitable for the Moon Jae-in administration to keep its policy momentum amid prolonged economic challenges and mounting skepticism over next year.After months of denying rumors about the reshuffle, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Friday announced the replacements for Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and presidential chief of staff for policy Jang Ha-sung.Kim was repl

In replacing the top two economic policymakers on Friday, Cheong Wa Dae has chosen insiders from the incumbent bureaucratic society. Hong Nam-ki, 59, who was named to replace Kim Dong-yean as deputy prime minister and finance minister, has been serving as chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination since May 2017, the beginning of the Moon Jae-in administration.He is marked for his diverse experience not only in government departments, but also in the presidential secretariat und

Kim Dong-yeon, Jang Ha-sung step down amid stagnant economy

South Korea's top monetary policymaker will attend a meeting of the world's central bank governors in Switzerland next week, the Bank of Korea said Friday.BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol is scheduled to leave for the northwestern Swiss city of Basel on Saturday for the meetings of the Bank of International Settlement. The two-day meeting will kick off Sunday, with the BOK chief to return home next Wednesday, according to his office.He will exchange views with his counterparts from major economies on curren

South Korean stock markets were bullish Thursday on strong foreign buying, as the midterm elections results in the United States stoked investors’ appetite for risk. The benchmark index of top-tier market Kospi closed at 2,092.63 Thursday, up 0.7 percent from Wednesday. The second-tier Kosdaq was 1.7 percent higher. Market giants saw mild gains. On Kospi, Samsung Electronics inched up 0.1 percent, chipmaker SK hynix climbed 3 percent and biosimilar drugmaker Celltrion was 2.1 percent highe

Woori Bank nominated its incumbent Chief Executive Officer Sohn Tae-seung as the chairman of a new holding company set to control the nation’s fourth-largest commercial bank, officials said Thursday.At an extraordinary board of directors meeting, the 59-year-old CEO was named the chairman of the holding company while keeping his CEO post at Woori Bank. Sohn has led Woori Bank since December 2017.  This came a day after the Financial Services Commission approved a plan to reestablish a

The amount of loans taken out for stock purchases has been on a drastic downtrend over the past month, reflecting the recent collapse of stock prices and shrinking investor confidence, data showed Thursday. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the balance for margin account loans stood at 9.4 trillion won ($8.4 billion) as of Monday, down 2.8 trillion won, or 23.8 percent, from a month earlier. This was also the lowest since a balance of 9 trillion won observed on Nov. 3

Retail sales and service output in restructuring-hit regions continued to remain in a slump in the third quarter, government data showed Thursday.According to the data compiled by Statistics Korea, service output in South Gyeonsang Province, North Jeolla Province and Ulsan city suffered a decline of 0.8 percent, 0.6 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, in the July-September period, from a year earlier.Retail sales in South Gyeongnam, North Jeolla and Ulsan also logged negative growth, the late

An artificial intelligence platform will start screening terms of service for financial products from next year, the financial watchdog said Thursday, as part of its efforts to bolster machine-readable regulation. The Financial Supervisory Service and KT Corp., the nation's biggest fixed-line Internet operator, have used an AI platform to screen terms of service for mutual funds on a trial basis since August this year. After four months of trials, the platform was deemed capable of the scre

Woori Bank, South Korea’s fourth-largest commercial bank and the parent company of 19 financial subsidiaries, has gained regulatory approval to adopt a financial holding company structure. The Financial Services Commission’s decision in a regular meeting Wednesday laid the groundwork for reintroduction of a holding company of the banking group after four years. The new company, set to be established in January 2019, will own six subsidiaries -- Woori Bank, Woori FIS, Woori Finance Re