Ministry announces follow-up fiscal plans to boost stalled economy

Monthly inflation index dips below zero, hits record-low

The government plans to increase its job creation budget by over 20 percent to a record volume of nearly 26 trillion won ($21.4 billion) next year, with unemployment benefits accounting for a record 40 percent of the total, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday.The government will spend 25.77 trillion won in 2020 on job creation, marking a rise of 21.3 percent from this year, the ministry said, citing a government budget proposal for next year that was endorsed by the Cabinet last Th

South Korea's consumer price growth hit a record low in August, remaining flat compared with a year earlier, due mainly to declines in prices of agricultural and petroleum products, government data showed Tuesday.South Korea's consumer prices remained unchanged in August from a year earlier, staying below the 1 percent threshold for the eighth consecutive month, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The reading marked the lowest since 1965, when the statistics agency started compiling dat

South Korea's economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the second quarter from three months earlier on sluggish exports and government spending, the central bank said Tuesday.The country's gross domestic product expanded 1 percent in the April-June period, rebounding from a 0.4 percent on-quarter contraction the previous quarter, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea.The latest reading marks a slight decrease from an earlier estimate of a 1.1 percent on-quarter expansion estim

South Korea is set to complete the ratification of a free trade deal with the UK at the National Assembly before the Brexit deadline of Oct. 31, officials said Monday. Since Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, the Korean government has pushed for a bilateral deal with the UK to prevent the rupture of trade relations and ensure continuity.  On Aug. 22, the two nations signed a trade agreement that would allow businesses to keep trading freely after Brexit, marking the fir

South Korea's financial regulator said Monday it has requested 3.1 trillion won ($2.5 billion) in budget for next year, in order to focus on providing funds for small- and medium-sized firms and underprivileged people. The budget proposal by the Financial Services Commission is part of a budget bill of 513.5 trillion won for next year, which was drafted by the finance ministry last week. The lion's share of the FSC budget proposal, or 2.1 trillion won, will be set aside for the retrieval of

President Moon's approval rating drops below 40% for 1st time

Fiscal chief foresees challenges in growth pace, dispels worries on plans to increase expenditure

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Friday two BOK board members cast a dissenting vote in the August rate-freeze decision. Cho Dong-chul, who is considered the most dovish among the seven-member monetary policy board, and another dovish member, Shin In-seok, called for the central bank to cut its key rate by a quarter percentage point, Lee told reporters, after freezing the key rate at 1.5 percent. Many analysts view that a dissenting vote could signal a change in the BOK's policy in the c

South Korea's central bank has room for a further rate cut to deter a longer skid in Asia's fourth-largest economy, the bank's chief said Friday, with analysts eying a rate reduction in October.The Bank of Korea's monetary policy board voted to leave the bellwether rate steady, after in July the bank carried out the first quarter percentage-point reduction in three years. The BOK's wait-and-see stance had been widely expected as it needs to gauge the impact of the rate cut on Asia's fourth-large

South Korea's industrial output rose 1.2 percent in July from a month earlier due to increased auto output and facility investment, government data showed Friday. The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed the production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries also went up 2.6 percent in July from a month earlier, while the output of the service sector increased 1 percent on-month.From a year earlier, industrial output grew 0.5 percent. (Yonhap)

Dollar up W100 this year; national debt up W100 trillion since 2017

 South Korea’s fiscal spending will climb 9.3 percent on-year in 2020, amid the government’s expansionary policy measures in response to growing economic uncertainties such as US-China friction and Japan’s trade curbs, according to officials.The Ministry of Economy and Finance on Thursday laid out next year’s state budget bill and a five-year fiscal road map at a Cabinet meeting, as a preliminary step to parliamentary submission slated for Tuesday. If the budget bill

Japan on Wednesday put into force its decision to remove South Korea from a list of favored trade partners, further deepening a row between the two countries over trade and wartime history. Japan pressed ahead with the removal approved by its Cabinet on Aug. 2, despite Seoul's repeated calls to stop such export curbs, which it sees as political retaliation for last year's South Korean Supreme Court rulings against Japanese firms over colonial-era forced labor.Seoul is expected to officially lodg