A senior official of global rating agency Moody's Investors Service has said that the overall fundamentals of the South Korean economy are solid, the finance ministry said Friday.Moody's managing director of sovereign risk, Yves Lemay, made the comment in a meeting with South Korea's Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom in London after Kim asked Moody's to take into account South Korea's policies in evaluating its rating on Seoul. Lemay said geopolitical risks constrained South Korea's rating, th

The Ministry of Economy and Finance has disputed a Bloomberg column that accused the Moon Jae-in administration’s inclusive growth policies as “socialist,” officials said Wednesday.Bloomberg on Monday posted a letter to the editor, written by Seoul’s First Vice Minister Kim Yong-beom in response to an earlier column titled “What’s worse than corrupt billionaires? Socialism.”The original column by Shuli Ren, an opinion columnist covering Asian markets, ap

South Korea is unlikely to achieve its growth target this year, the finance minister said Wednesday, as exports slowed amid trade tensions with Japan and an ongoing trade conflict between the United States and China.When asked by a lawmaker whether South Korea can pull off its 2.4 percent or 2.5 percent growth target, Hong Nam-ki said in a parliamentary audit that "it appears difficult to achieve it."It is not the first time that Hong voiced skepticism about South Korea's economic grow

The total value of goods purchased via online shopping in South Korea hit a record high in August, government data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign that a growing number of people are using computers and mobile devices to buy things, ranging from clothes to electronic goods.The total value of online transactions reached 11.25 trillion won ($9.3 billion) in August, the highest level since Statistics Korea started collecting data on online shopping in January 2001. From a year earlier, the val

Global rating agency Standard & Poor's said Tuesday that it slashed its growth forecast for South Korea's economy this year to 1.8 percent amid the global economic slowdown.The latest estimate represented a downward revision from its previous 2 percent forecast in July.  S&P said that the South Korean economy could grow 2.1 percent in 2020, also down from its previous forecast of 2.6 percent. The rating agency said eroding confidence in the outlook is intensifying the investment-led

South Korea saw its inflation drop for the first time in September due to weakened demand and decreased prices of agricultural and petroleum products, government data showed Tuesday.Though the latest figures rekindled concerns on long-term deflation and speculations on an imminent rate cut, policymakers argued that recent fluctuations were only temporary. Consumer prices slipped 0.4 percent in September from a year earlier, marking the first on-year decrease in inflation since the related data w

South Korea's headline inflation dropped for the first time in September due to declines in prices of agricultural products and stabilizing petroleum prices, the statistics agency said Tuesday.South Korea's consumer prices fell 0.4 percent in September from a year earlier, marking the first on-year drop in inflation since Statistics Korea began compiling related data in 1965. The statistics agency said the record low consumer prices are blamed on a fall in prices of agricultural products, stabil

South Korea's exports sank 11.7 percent in September from a year earlier, extending their slump to a 10th consecutive month, data showed Tuesday, hurt by still weak prices of semiconductors and the yearlong trade row between the United States and China. Outbound shipments reached $44.7 billion last month, compared with the $50.6 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.Imports fell 5.6 percent on-year last month to $38.7 billion

Premature to assume recovery trend of economy: official

South Korea's industrial output advanced for the second straight month last month on the back of a rise in the service sector, government data showed Monday.The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed the country's overall industrial output rose 0.5 percent in August from a month earlier.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries fell 1.4 percent last month from a month earlier due mainly to decreased output in cars. Meanwhile, the output of the service sector incre

Outstanding loans to household sector up 49% in 5 years

The chief of South Korea’s central bank recognized the country’s challenges in achieving its modest 2.2 percent economic growth pace target for this year, but denied the possibility of deflation.While vowing to maintain the current monetary easing policy moves, he also stressed the need to stay “data dependent,” refraining from asserting the economic outlook for the second half and next year.“As major economies further ease their monetary policies, the concerns on g

South Korea ranked 20th out of 53 countries surveyed by German insurer Allianz Group in terms of per capita financial assets last year, according to its report on Sunday.According to the recently released Allianz Global Wealth Report, Koreans' financial assets stood at an average of 39 million won ($33,000) per person in 2018, slightly up from a year earlier. Last year, the United States topped the list with per capita financial assets of 240 million won, followed by Switzerland with per capita

South Korea's trade terms continued to decline in August amid a continued drop in exports, central bank data showed Friday.The terms of trade index for products came to 89.94 in the month, down 4.6 percent from the same month last year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea .The reading marks 21 consecutive months of decline in the index. The trade terms index measures the amount of imports a country can purchase for each unit of exports. A reading below 100 means import prices are higher

South Korea plans to sell 6.1 trillion won ($5 billion) in state bonds next month, the finance ministry said Thursday.The government will issue 1.2 trillion won in bonds with a maturity of three years and 1.2 trillion won in five-year bonds, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It also intends to sell 1.4 trillion won in bonds with a maturity of 10 years and 500 billion won in 20-year Treasurys, while floating 1.4 trillion won and 400 billion won in bonds with a maturity of 30 years