South Korea's central bank is expected to raise its benchmark interest to 2 percent by the end of this year to tackle rising inflation and a brisk economic recovery, a local brokerage house said Thursday. Hana Financial Investment Co. said its latest forecast is 0.25 percentage point higher than its earlier projection of 1.75 percent for the end of this year. "The key rate outlook has been raised in light of high inflation at home and abroad, and South Korea's economic growth outpacing its

South Korea's fiscal deficit is estimated to be sharply smaller than its previous estimate last year on the back of larger-than-expected tax revenue, the finance ministry said Thursday. The consolidated fiscal balance, a key gauge of fiscal soundness, logged a deficit of 30 trillion won ($25 billion) in 2021, smaller than the government's earlier projection of 90.3 trillion won, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The improved fiscal health was attributable ma

60-somethings make up largest portion in increase

South Korea said Wednesday it will actively push for free trade agreements with African nations in a move to deepen economic ties with the resource-rich emerging market and to diversify its trade portfolio. Last month, South Korea and Egypt agreed to carry out a joint feasibility study on the bilateral trade and economic partnership, which is a first step for South Korea to have a free trade pact with an African country if the two sign the free trade deal. Trade volume between South Korea and Af

South Korea reported the largest job growth in nearly 22 years in January as the job market improved to pre-pandemic levels due to a low base effect and the ongoing economic recovery, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people came to 26.95 million last month, up 1.14 million from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It marked the largest job growth since March 2000, when the number of employed people increased 1.21 million on-year. It also marked the

South Korea's three major instant noodle makers saw their operating profits tumble in 2021 due largely to increased costs, their regulatory filings showed Wednesday. Nongshim Co., the leading maker of instant noodles, or "ramyeon" in Korean, said that its 2021 operating income plunged 33.8 percent from the previous year. Ottogi Co. and Samyang Foods Co. also saw their operating profits for last year shrink 16.1 percent and 31 percent on-year, respectively. The companies attributed t

SEJONG -- Korea’s economic policymakers are mapping out contingency plans to minimize shocks from the possibility of worsening relations between Ukraine and Russia, the Ministry of Economic and Finance said Tuesday. Their plans are mainly focused on protecting export-oriented enterprises and the financial market by carrying out a variety of emergency countermeasures. Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-weon presided over a task force meeting during the day to cope with the geopolitical risk. P

The number of unicorns in South Korea reached an all-time high in 2021 amid state support for promising startups, data showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy had 18 unicorns as of end-December last year, up from 13 a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. It was also sharply up from three in 2017. A unicorn is an unlisted startup with a valuation of $1 billion or more. The number of unicorns serves as a yardstick of a country's ecosystem for startups

South Korea's automobile exports fell more than 6 percent in January from a year earlier due to a global shortage of automotive chips and a high base effect, data showed Tuesday. Outbound shipments of automobiles came to 179,709 units last month, down 6.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In terms of value, however, exports rose 2.3 percent to $4.09 billion last month. "A high base effect, the temporary shutdown of some pr

Dividend payouts by South Korea's major listed firms fell more than 14 percent in 2021, but seven paid out more than 1 trillion won ($835 million), a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The combined amount of dividends by 53 companies, including top-cap Samsung Electronics Co., stood at 28.55 trillion won for fiscal 2021, down 14.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Leaders Index. The firms cover those that have announced dividends as of Friday out of the country's top 100 listed corporatio

South Korea's import prices rose for the first time in three months in January as the costs of bringing in crude and other raw materials became more expensive, central bank data showed Tuesday. The import price index gained 4.1 percent in January from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The rise followed 1 percent and 2 percent on-month declines in November and December, respectively. The January uptick came mostly from increased crude oil and raw materia

SEJONG -- The nation’s exports of information and communication technology products enjoyed their best January on record last month, state data showed Monday. 　 The record was driven by growths in exports to five major destinations for ICT products -- China, Vietnam, the US, EU, and Japan. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea’s outbound shipments of ICT products recorded $19.6 billion last month, up 20.7 percent from $16.2 billion in January 2021 amid robust export p

South Korea's financial watchdog vowed Monday to keep closer tabs on financial institutions' management of foreign currency liquidity and real estate lending this year in a move to better respond to potential risks amid growing market uncertainties. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) made the plan for the new year amid major countries' monetary tightening to rein in inflation pressure, the prolonged pandemic and concerns over the instability of the Chinese property market. According to the

Four financial holding firms in South Korea saw their interest income surge nearly 15 percent in 2021 thanks to rising lending rates, industry data showed Monday. The combined interest income of the four holding companies -- KB Financial Group Inc., Shinhan Financial Group Co., Hana Financial Group Inc. and Woori Financial Group Inc. -- came to some 32.3 trillion won ($26.9 billion) last year, up 14.9 percent from a year earlier. KB Financial led the pack with an interest income of slightly over

South Korea’s four major bank holding firms are expected to hand out record-high dividends for their highest net profits made last year thanks to a pandemic recovery, officials said Sunday. Total dividends from the four companies -- KB Financial Group, Hana Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group and Woori Financial Group -- are estimated to be 3.8 trillion won ($3.1 billion), about 26 percent of the combined net profit of 14.5 trillion won. “We have enough capital flowing in to c