A Central American development bank has decided to open a South Korean office in Seoul as part of efforts to strengthen ties with Asia's fourth-largest economy, the finance ministry said Sunday. The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) has notified the Korean government and the Seoul municipality that its Seoul office will be set up in the capital's financial district of Yeouido, according to government officials. The bank has the goal of opening the office within this year.

South Korea's electricity consumption nearly rebounded to the pre-pandemic level in April amid the recovery of industrial and business activities, data showed Friday. Asia's fourth-largest economy used 41,900 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of power in April, up 3.5 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO). South Korea's power consumption earlier dropped 4.6 percent on-year in April 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a harsh blow to the economy. The

South Korea's global competitiveness ranking remained unchanged this year after rising by five notches in the previous year on the back of its efforts to contain the pandemic, a report showed Thursday. The country ranked 23rd in terms of global competitiveness among 64 countries surveyed, according to the 2021 report by the International Institute for Management Development. IMD, a Swiss-based international institution, has been releasing the report every year since 1989 based on a country's e

Kospi, crypto trade bearish on Fed’s hawkish stance, curbing confidence over economic recovery

The likely scenario of South Korea’s central bank carrying out out a rate hike by the end of the year is unlikely to cool the heated housing market here, industry insiders said on Thursday, dismissing the impact of monetary policies on real estate prices that surged in recent months. The envisioned rate hike would lead to an increase in the interest rates for household loans and mortgages extended by local commercial banks. But the housing market is likely to stay hot for a while mainly d

Sagging tour products poised to rebound

South Korean companies saw their profitability continue their growth in the first quarter, with their sales rebounding from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Thursday. The ratio of operating profit to sales of firms in the country reached 6.4 percent in the first quarter, up from 4.2 percent tallied a year ago, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). At the same time, the pretax net profit margin of South Korean companies rose on-year to 7.9 percent from

South Korea will closely monitor the financial market as market volatility could increase following the Federal Reserve's signal of an earlier-than-expected rate hike, a senior government official said Thursday. After freezing its key rate at near zero at a policy meeting, the Fed signaled an earlier-than-expected rate increase in 2023 as US inflation is rising amid an economic recovery. The US central bank also hinted it began discussing when to taper bond-buying programs. Bearing the Fed's s

South Korea and the United States have agreed to extend their $60 billion currency swap agreement by another three months through Dec. 31, which was signed to help ease market uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday. The BOK and the Federal Reserve reached an agreement to extend the bilateral currency swap deal, which was due to expire on Sept. 30, after extending it twice since it went effect in March 2020 to ease financial jitters caused by the pan

The global memory chip market is forecast to increase 32 percent this year, a report showed Thursday, boding well for South Korean chipmakers that dominate the sector. Sales growth for the DRAM market is expected to reach 41 percent in 2021, the second largest among 33 integrated circuit (IC) products, while that of NAND flash is projected to be 22 percent, according to the latest McClean report released by market researcher IC Insights. "It is expected that the price per bit of DRAM wi

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday the government will focus on increasing the housing supply in a bid to curb market expectations for continued rises in home prices. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said the supply of homes is expected to increase after 2022 as the construction of new properties has increased since May. Amid sluggish housing transactions, the growth of home prices has picked up in recent months in Seoul on expectations for eased rules on the reconstruction of ol

The European Union is seeking to extend its safeguard measures against South Korea steel products for another three-year period, industry sources said Wednesday. The European Commission has recently notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it plans to maintain its current level of tariffs on imported steel products, according to sources from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. The EU has been charging a 25 percent duty on imported

South Korea's exports are expected to remain resilient in the second half of the year on a series of positive external factors, the central bank said Wednesday. The upbeat forecast by the Bank of Korea (BOK) comes amid a recent surge in South Korea's overseas shipments on the back of a global economic recovery. "With the impact of IT sector's supply-side negative factors easing, major economies are likely to continue their rebound on an increase in global chip demand, the effect of US sti

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans rebounded in April from a record low the previous month as lenders cleared smaller amounts of bad debts, the financial watchdog said Wednesday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.3 percent at the end of April, up 0.02 percentage point from an all-time low of 0.28 percent the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier, the banks' loan delinquency r

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea declined in May from a record high in the previous month as some companies withdrew their FX holdings, central bank data showed Wednesday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $94.7 billion as of end-May, down $100 million from an all-time high of $94.8 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Residents include local citizens, foreigners staying here for more than six months an