Debate persists over need to raise market liquidity versus concerns about excessive workload

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday lowered its growth outlook for South Korea to 2.8 percent from 3 percent amid sluggish corporate investment and domestic consumption. It also slashed the country's growth projection for next year to 2.6 percent from 2.9 percent, becoming the latest global institution to be less optimistic about Asia's fourth largest economy.Last month, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also trimmed its growth estimate for South Korea to 2.7 perce

Domestic facility investment has continued to decline in recent months, while overseas investment by the nation’s manufacturers is on a steep rise.Facility investment in South Korea contracted 1.4 percent on-month in August, marking the sixth consecutive month of downward movement, according to data released last week by Statistics Korea. It was the longest streak of decline in facility investment in Asia’s fourth-largest economy in nearly two decades. The figure fell for 10 months i

Woori Bank, South Korea‘s fourth-largest commercial bank by assets, said Monday it has created an office in Singapore to streamline loan evaluation of offshore units across Asia. The office, dubbed “Asia Credit Analysis & Approval Debt Center” is designed to “improve loan approval (of offshore units) and expedite the decision-making process” of corporations in China, Vietnam and Indonesia, as well as branches in Hong Kong, India and Middle East nations, the bank

The value of unpaid household work, such as meal preparation and child care, was estimated at 361 trillion won (US$319 billion) in 2014, state data showed Monday.The 2014 figure was up 90.1 trillion won, or 33 percent, from five years earlier, according to the data released by Statistics Korea.All household chores, including caring for family members, and volunteering, were included in the so-called household satellite account, and the calculation shows the value of unpaid services and activitie

The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea launched a consulting service platform to support small firms and startups last week, bank officials said.IBK said it opened IBK ChangGongong at its Guro branch in southwestern Seoul on Oct. 1.The platform provides select startups with free offices, mentoring from experts, patent, tax and legal services, according to officials.In addition, they said, the bank will support their loans, investment relations and business networking. In the opening ceremony, IB

South Korea's central bank chief stressed its right to make monetary policy decisions without political interference a week before the rate-setting meeting."I will not freeze the interest rate even though a rate hike is necessary, or vice versa, in an apparent response to outside voices," Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a media meeting held on Friday.His comment follows calls by some high-ranking government officials, including Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, for a rate increase as

South Korea's trade promotion agency said Sunday it has reached an initial agreement with Britain to expand the two countries' already-strong partnership. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said its CEO, Kwon Pyung-oh, signed the memorandum of understanding with Britain's International Trade Secretary, Liam Fox, for a strategic partnership in bilateral investments, trade information exchanges, and joint overseas projects. "Britain is the world's fifth-biggest economy in terms of gr

The National Pension Service (NPS), the country's top institutional investor, lost a whopping 9.9 trillion won (US$8.7 billion) from stock investments through July this year, a lawmaker said Saturday.According to the data presented by Rep. Yoo Jae-jung of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, the combined value of local shares held by the investor came to 123 trillion won as of end-July, down from 131.5 trillion won estimated at the end of last year.The NPS newly invested 1.5 trillion won in

South Korea's consumer price growth continued to stay above 1 percent in September, hitting the highest level in a year, on a sharp rise in prices for agricultural goods and the service sector, government data showed Friday.The country's consumer price index climbed 1.9 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from the previous month's 1.4 percent on-year gain, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.The on-year rise marks the highest since September last year, when the co

Real estate accounted for more than half of South Korean households' total assets, with the rate of homes owned for investments far higher compared to major economies, a report showed Thursday.It is based upon an analysis of features of household assets in five nations -- South Korea, the United States, Britain, Australia and the Netherlands -- by the Mirae Asset Retirement Institute. According to the report, real estate property accounted on average for 51.3 percent of the total assets of South

South Korea’s peer-to-peer financing startup Lendit said Thursday that it plans to allow investors and borrowers to trade notes that are not mature by establishing an online secondary market. P2P financing refers to a loan crowdsourced from investors seeking midrange interest rates, between 5 and 10 percent per year. The interest comes from borrowers’ debt servicing. Korea is home to 175 P2P financing platforms licensed as of end-August.The new system, dubbed the “Lendit Market

South Korea's central bank chief on Thursday gave a strong signal for a possible rate hike later this month aimed at reducing the adverse effects from years of low borrowing costs."Recently, the South Korean economy has pulled off modest growth on the back of exports, but it is now experiencing an imbalance in many sectors as we have put less significance on investment in the future," Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in a breakfast meeting with business leaders in Seoul."

South Korea has seen one of the fastest expansion paces for its household debt against its gross domestic product this year, despite a series of policy actions focused on lending restrictions, data showed Wednesday.According to data compiled by the Bank for International Settlements, Seoul’s household debt was equal to 95.2 percent of its GDP as of end-March this year, up 2.3 percentage points from a year prior.This growth rate marked the third fastest among 43 key economies across the wor