South Korea's consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in nearly 20 years in March on a drop in petrochemical products and a stabilization of prices of vegetables, government data showed Tuesday.The consumer price index rose 0.4 last month from a year earlier, marking the third straight month that the consumer price index has hovered below 1 percent, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The March figure marks the lowest increase since July 1999, when the country's consumer prices

SEJONG -- South Korea is in negotiations for four different free trade agreements involving 19 countries.The four are talks on a joint agreement with China and Japan (2 countries); with China, Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (15); with Ecuador (1); and with Israel (1).As a developed process, Korea has signed a preliminary pact with five Central American countries -- Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama -- which made

South Korea sold $187 million worth of foreign currencies during the second half of last year in an effort to stabilize the market, the central bank said Friday.The Bank of Korea posted the related information on its website, explaining that the transactions were made in response to sudden fluctuations that could negatively effect the economy.The Korean won remained in the 1,000-1,150 won range against the US dollar during the given six months, data showed. In May last year, the government annou

South Korea's industrial output edged down 1.9 percent in February from a month earlier due in part to decreased production of cars and the service sector, government data showed Friday.The figure was the biggest decline since March 2013, when industrial output fell 2.1 percent.The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed the output of cars went down 3.2 percent in February from a month earlier, while production in the service sector declined 1.1 percent on-month. Retail sales fell 0.5 percent i

SEJONG -- South Korea and Uzbekistan agreed Thursday to push for a joint study on forging a free trade agreement to further boost bilateral economic ties, South Korea's finance ministry said.The agreement was reached in talks between Hong Nam-ki, the minister of economy and finance, and his Uzbek counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister Elyor Ganiev. Hong also doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs."We should ponder over what the demands of both sides are and how to produce a win-w

SEJONG -- Three major global rating firms have been relatively pessimistic on the outlook for South Korea’s economic growth this year, compared to projections from the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Korea.The rating firms -- Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service -- have estimated that the growth of gross domestic product this year will stay under 2.6 percent, the figure projected by the central bank. The Finance Ministry has forecast that the econ

Government eyes pump priming to stimulate economy

SEJONG -- It has been 17 years since former Bank of Korea Gov. Park Seung proposed slashing the face value of the nation’s currency upon taking office in April 2002.Under Park, the central bank pushed for redenomination in a low-key manner, seeking to do away with 10,000 won, 5,000 won and 1,000 won notes and replace them with notes worth 10 hwan, 5 hwan and 1 hwan. The BOK project, initiated in the fifth year of the government of former President Kim Dae-jung, came to the fore d

South Korea's Moon Jae-in administration won't artificially boost the property market in a bid to stimulate the economy, a senior presidential official said Sunday.The local housing market, mainly apartment transactions, has been notably sluggish since the government's tough regulations on it became effective on Sept  13, 2018.The move was aimed at curbing apartment prices that had been skyrocketing at that time. Many agree that the market overheated as a result of a set of deregulations on

South Korea has seen its exports decline at a steeper rate than other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member states, reflecting the contraction in outbound shipments of semiconductors, ships and petrochemical products, data showed Sunday.According to data from the OECD, Asia’s fourth-largest economy saw its exports volume dip 5.9 percent from a year earlier in January, standing 26th out of 32 member states that were subject to the latest survey.The country’s on-

SEJONG -- The chances are high that the Ministry of Economy and Finance will eventually propose a motion on a supplementary budget to the National Assembly in the coming weeks, according to recent remarks from ruling party lawmakers and Cheong Wa Dae officials.Moreover, market insiders say, a bigger interest could be the scale of the extra budget and policymakers’ position against possible backlash from the public and political oppositions.In June 2017, when an earlier supplementary budget

Hours following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to leave its key interest rate unchanged, Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol ruled out the possibility of a policy rate cut in the near future, early Thursday.“The US’ current wait-and-see mode will help stabilize the global financial markets and has given us some room to maneuver regarding our monetary policy,” Lee told reporters at the headquarters of the nation’s central Bank in Seoul. “However, now is not the r

South Korea's financial regulator said Thursday it will offer innovative firms and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) loans worth 100 trillion won($88.5 billion) over the next three years. The massive loan package is aimed at revitalizing the nation's sluggish economy at a time when the economy faces downward risks, including weaker domestic investment and global trade disputes. In a policy report to President Moon Jae-in, Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku said the FSC

Japanese carmakers urged to lower FCEV prices; cost of fuel, transportation cited as hurdles

South Korea’s export prices increased for the first time in four months in February on higher prices of petroleum products, central bank data showed Friday.The export price index stood at 82.97 last month, up 0.2 percent from the previous month, according to data released by the Bank of Korea. This marked the first on-month rise since October.Steering the gain was the petroleum products and coal sector, which saw an 8 percent hike on-month.The country’s benchmark Dubai crude reached