South Korea’s growing longevity has had the effect of lowering the country’s actual interest rate by 3 percent over the past 20 years, central bank data showed Monday.According to the latest report issued by the Bank of Korea’s Economic Research Institute, Asia’s fourth-largest economy saw its ratio of senior citizens -- those aged 65 or older compared to those aged 20 to 64 -- soar to 19.4 percent in 2015 from 9.6 percent in 1995.In a causal relationship with such demogr

South Korea's state-run minting agency said Monday its sales rose 9.1 percent on-year in 2019, as it expanded overseas sales of gold and silver bar products. The Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. reported sales of 524.6 billion won ($454.1 million) last year, the company said in a statement. It was the first time that annual sales of KOMSCO had exceeded 500 billion won, according to the statement. The agency has sought to bolster its overseas sales of gold and s

The proportion of unemployed people aged 25-29 in South Korea has ranked the highest among member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a report showed Monday. According to the report by the Bank of Korea, the 25-29 age bracket accounted for 21.6 percent of unemployed people in South Korea in 2018, marking the highest ratio among OECD members.It marked the seventh consecutive year that the proportion of unemployed people aged 25-29 in South Korea ranked highest am

The Bank of Korea is widely expected to keep its policy rate frozen at a record low of 1.25 percent this week, a poll showed Monday, amid growing signs of recovery in the global chip market that could finally end the steady decline in the country's exports after 13 months.All 19 analysts surveyed in a poll by Yonhap Infomax forecast a rate freeze this Friday when the BOK monetary policy board holds its first rate-setting meeting of the year. "We expect the BOK to keep the rate steady f

South Korea's exports rose 5.3 percent in the first 10 days of January, mainly due to rising shipments of semiconductors, customs data showed Monday.The country's exports stood at $13.3 billion in the January 1-10 period, compared with $12.7 billion in the same period last year, according to the Korea Customs Service. By product, exports of semiconductors and petrochemical goods rose 11.5 percent and 30.6 percent, respectively. In contrast, outbound shipments of passenger cars and wireless

Key indexes may determine country’s growth performance in 2020

South Korea's exports to Iran dropped nearly 90 percent from a year earlier in the first 11 months of last year, the fastest rate among the top 20 export countries, data showed Sunday.In the January-November period, Seoul's shipments to the Middle East country came to $259 million, down 88.6 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data from the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency.The amount still marked the 14th largest, but the rate the drop was by far the hi

South Korea will speed up its budget spending in the first quarter as it seeks to revitalize the economy through large-scale investment projects, a vice finance minister said Friday. Vice Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said it is most important for the economy to gain recovery momentum this year, backed by the government's expansionary fiscal policies. "The government will focus on spending in social infrastructure and job creation in the first quarter," Koo said, according to a statem

South Korea’s finance minister said Friday that the government would continue to monitor the situation in the Middle East and would respond firmly to any threats, while reassuring them that the tensions would have a limited impact on the economy. “We will closely monitor the volatile situation in the Middle East along with the market trend and respond firmly if necessary, as related uncertainties continue to exist,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in

South Korea's outstanding state and special bonds grew at the fastest rate in four years in 2019, largely due to government efforts to make up for a cut in tax revenues, data showed Friday. The outstanding amount of bonds and debt issued by public institutions rose 5.3 percent from a year earlier to 1,020.4 trillion won ($879.7 billion), according to the data from Koscom Corp., the system manager of the South Korean bourse operator, Korea Exchange.By type, the Asia's fourth-largest economy net i

South Korea is closely monitoring tensions in the Middle East, although a conflict between the United States and Iran is not escalating, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday. Hong said volatility at local financial markets showed signs of easing as the US and Iran moved to defuse tension, but uncertainties remain. The government is "closely monitoring the situation and will take actions if necessary," Hong told a meeting with economy-related ministers.  However, Hong said ther

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Thursday the government will provide more support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to increase their exports this year. Hong made the remarks as he visited a ventilator maker in the city of Hwaseong, south of Seoul, earlier in the day.South Korea's exports have dropped for 13 consecutive months since December 2018. Hong said the government expanded its contract-based loan guarantees for SMEs to 200 billion won (US$172 million) this year, compa

SEJONG -- Government officials actively publicized that the number of unemployed people aged between 15 and 29 and the corresponding unemployment rate had dropped during the Moon Jae-in administration.They used a variety of figures held by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in their online policy briefing in December 2019, dismissing arguments in the market that the youth jobless rate has become severe.A government official cited the figure that the number of jobless Koreans aged 15-29 was abo

Reflecting the slower-than-expected recovery of trade, the World Bank has lowered its forecast for this year’s global economic growth pace by 0.2 percentage point, South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said Thursday.In its biannual Global Economic Prospects report issued in Washington, the World Bank predicted that the world economy will expand 2.5 percent in 2020, down from its earlier outlook in June 2019.This annual growth rate is anticipated to rise gradually to 2.6 perce

South Korea's economy remained sluggish in November due to a slump in manufacturing and investment, but the slump showed signs easing as business confidence improved, a state-run think tank said Thursday. "The Korean economy is still exhibiting slow growth although some indicators imply that the slowdown is easing," the Korea Development Institute said in its English-language Monthly Economic Trends publication."The growth in retail sales and services production ticked up and lead