Koreans concerned about inflation

One out of every two Koreans is most concerned about the rising prices of goods and services next year, a recent survey showed on Tuesday.

In a survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 54.6 percent picked inflation as the most burdening factor for the household budget in 2012, followed by remaining loans and a reduction in income with 26.2 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively.

The decrease in asset value also took up more than 5.4 percent. The survey was answered by 500 people in the metropolitan area.

Of the respondents, 31.8 percent said the rise of prices for public services were the main cause of inflation, while heating and dining costs as well as loan interest fees and education fares were also included in the category.

About 65 percent believed the costs of general goods and services sharply rose throughout this year with four out of every 10 people answering that food was the highest rising item in terms of costs, the survey said.

As a result, 45.5 percent said they saw an increase in household debt this year compared to last year, while only 8.8 percent said their debt level shrunk.

In terms of potential market stabilization measures, curbing the rise of public fares received 40.5 percent of votes followed by stabilizing oil prices with 24.3 percent and also stabilizing the costs of farm and fishery goods with 13.6 percent, it said.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)