The debt owed by households and small businesses in South Korea rose at one of the world's fastest rates in 2019 in terms of its ratio to the country's gross domestic product (GDP), data showed Wednesday. According to the data from the Bank for International Settlement, outstanding debt extended to households and small businesses here came to 1,790.5 trillion won ($1.5 trillion) as of the end of September, up 4.5 percent from a year earlier. The rate of increase was the 25th-highest am

Job creation and welfare key policy goals this year for Suwon, says mayor

Ruling party’s COVID-19 TF chief mentions rough amount of extra budget injection

Spurred by IBK case, unions seek representation on board, more leverage

South Korea's economy grew slightly faster than expected in the fourth quarter of 2019, although this had no effect on the overall economic expansion for last year, central bank data showed Tuesday. Asia's fourth-largest economy grew 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter from three months earlier, 0.1 percentage point higher than earlier expected, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The country's annual growth, however, remained unchanged at 2 percent. The annual growth w

South Korea's headline inflation rose 1.1 percent in February from a year earlier, marking an increase of over 1 percent for the second straight month, the statistics agency said Tuesday. The inflation rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy increased 1.5 percent in January, the highest in 14 months, Statistics Korea said. South Korea's headline inflation was below 1 percent every month in 2019. Core inflation, which excludes agricultural and petroleum products, increased 0.6 percent from a ye

OECD cuts Seoul’s growth pace to 2%, global figure to 2.4%, in interim outlook

Budget will far surpass W6.2tr allocated for MERS crisis in 2015

Amid foreign investors’ massive short sales, need for stricter rule raised; FSS, FSC differ in views

Capital market reflects President Moon’s coronavirus policy

South Korea’s economic indexes for February could plunge drastically, taking the full impact of the coronavirus outbreak, the government said Friday. “The fast-spreading COVID-19 is increasingly weighing on consumer sentiment and economic activities,” said Kim Yong-beom, first vice minister of economy and finance, during a macroeconomy-finance policy meeting at the Korea Federation of Banks in central Seoul. The meeting was attended by officials from the Financial Service

South Korea’s tax agency said Friday that it had begun inspections of mask filter manufacturing companies to prevent illegal profiteering amid the new coronavirus outbreak. The National Tax Service has examined 12 local manufacturers that produce nearly 95 percent of the nation’s supply of filter material -- melt blown nonwoven fabric. Melt blown or MB filters are the core material for hygiene masks. Depending on the percentage of particle blockage, they are classified into thre

South Korea's central bank is likely to cut the policy rate in April amid concerns that the spreading novel coronavirus outbreak will hurt Asia's fourth-largest economy, analysts here said Friday. The Bank of Korea stood pat this week by keeping the rate at a record low of 1.25 percent, while trimming its economic outlook for the year to 2.1 percent from the previous 2.3 percent. More analysts are now betting on a rate cut in April as the virus cases are increasing at an alarming level. So fa

Lending rates on fresh loans extended by banks in South Korea dropped slightly from a month earlier in January, central bank data showed Friday. The average interest rate on all new bank loans came to 3.19 percent in the month, down 0.03 percentage point from the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. The rate on all outstanding loans came to 3.38 percent, down 0.02 percentage point from December. The average rate on fresh corporate loans slipped 0.04 percentag

Korea seeks to ease burden of property owners in pain-sharing gesture