South Korea's economy is experiencing eased downward pressures on the back of improving exports, the finance ministry said Friday, although the country still faces an ongoing economic slowdown. "(The economy's) downward pressures are easing on the back of partial recovery of the sluggish exports, sound domestic consumption, improved economic sentiment and robust employments," the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a report. The ministry nevertheless mentioned an economic

Korea-US rate gap is likely to widen to 2 percentage points this month

The Bank of Korea kept its key interest rate unchanged for the fourth consecutive time as inflation seems to be on the wane. The central bank decided to hold the rate at 3.5 percent at its rate-setting meeting on Thursday, keeping the base rate steady since February. The BOK’s decision falls in line with the market projection which assumed the central bank would maintain the rate as the consumer prices growth in June fell to the 2 percent range for the first time in 21 months. Korea’

South Korea's fiscal deficit narrowed in the first five months of 2023 from a year earlier as the country cut spending on pandemic-related expenditures, data showed Thursday. The managed fiscal balance, a key gauge of fiscal health calculated on a stricter term, posted a deficit of 52.5 trillion won ($40.9 billion) in the January-May period, compared with a shortfall of 71.2 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. South Korea's tax revenue

Import prices fell to the lowest in 18 months in June to extend their on-month decline for the second straight month on the back of the strengthening Korean won and stable oil prices, central bank data showed Thursday. The import price index for June stood at 130.49, down 3.4 percent from May, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. The June reading marks the lowest since December 2021. The index also fell 15.7 percent compared with a year earlier, marking the sharpest decline since

A total of 8.6 billion won ($6.7 million) was returned to 7,015 people who wired money to the wrong accounts since July 2021, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation said on Wednesday. The Misdirected Wire Transfers Recovery Support System, implemented in July 2021, is a system that returns money that was sent by mistake, which applies to those who wired amounts between 50,000 won and 50 million won. Requests for return need to be filed within a year of the date transfer was made. The average am

Visa rules to be eased to address imbalance in labor market

Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co. will hold a partial strike Wednesday in the South Korean carmaker's domestic plants in protest against the "anti-union" Yoon Suk Yeol government, the union said. Hyundai's day-shift and night-shift workers will hold a two-hour strike Wednesday, respectively, under the guidelines of the Korean Metal Workers' Union, a union spokesman said over the phone. The KMWU has been calling on the Yoon government to stop union repression and for

South Korean banks' net income from overseas businesses decreased in 2022 from a year earlier on increased bad debt expenses, data showed Wednesday. The net income of domestic banks' overseas businesses sank to $991 million from $1.17 billion on-year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The FSS attributed the decrease to a rise in banks' bad debt expenses intended to prepare for bad loans amid global rate hikes. The banks' interest income rose 13.7 percent on-year

South Korea's job additions remained stronger than expected in June on the back of the senior workforce, data showed Wednesday, although the on-year growth slowed for the third consecutive month. The number of employed people came to 28.81 million in June, up around 333,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. South Korea's on-year job additions slowed for nine consecutive months through February before rebounding in March, when they rose 469,000 on-

South Korea's statistics agency said Tuesday the country has been selected as the host of an international statistics event scheduled for 2027, which will bring together experts and government officials from around the world to share knowledge in the field of statistics. South Korea will host the World Statistics Congress of the International Statistical Institute in 2027 in the southeastern port city of Busan, marking the second time for the country to host the biennial event, following it

South Korea's exports fell 14.8 percent on-year in the first 10 days of July due to sluggish shipments of chips, data showed Tuesday. The country's outbound shipments reached $13.3 billion in the July 1-10 period, compared with $15.5 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports fell 26.9 percent on-year to $15.5 billion during the period, resulting in a trade deficit of $2.27 billion. In June, South Korea's outbound shipments fell 6

Policy fund urged to support Korean businesses' attempts to acquire tech firms overseas

US Fed’s potential rate raise this month could widen Korea-US rate gap to 2 percentage points

South Korea's current account returned to the black in May on the back of a trade surplus and increased dividend payments from overseas, central bank data showed Friday. The country's current account surplus reached $1.93 billion in May, swinging from a deficit of $790 million a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. May's surplus came as the country logged a trade surplus and the service account deficit narrowed. The primary income account, which