SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will raise first-quarter electricity rates by the largest margin in about four decades on high global energy costs and mounting losses of the state utility company, the industry ministry said Friday. The government decided to jack up the electricity rates for consumer and industrial use by 13.1 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s consumer prices grew at the fastest pace in more than two decades in 2022, government data showed Friday, as the country felt the pinch of soaring prices of raw materials and energy sources following the Russia-Ukraine war. Consumer prices rose 5.1 percent on-year in 2022, accelerating from [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s overseas direct investment fell 5 percent on-year in the third quarter of this year amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The value of investments made overseas by South Korean companies reached US$16.61 billion in the July-September period, down from $17.48 billion a year [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea took advantage of post-pandemic recovery through early 2022, but this year was overall challenging for the export-dependent nation as it felt the pinch of inflation sparked by the Russia-Ukraine war resulting in monetary tightening moves and slowed exports. Earlier this year, the South Korean government painted a [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean banknotes saw their lifetimes increase on-year in 2022 as people use less cash and depend more on credit cards and internet banking for transactions, a central bank report showed Wednesday. According to the report from the Bank of Korea (BOK), the country’s smallest denomination bills, 1,000-won notes, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea is experiencing sluggish exports and record trade deficit over a global economic slowdown, and intertwined challenges both at home and abroad further dimmed prospects for a turnaround anytime soon, experts said Sunday. The country’s exports fell 14 percent on-year to come to US$51.91 billion in November, the [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly 60 percent of economic and financial experts worry that South Korea could face a financial crisis in the short term amid concerns that spiking borrowing costs could weigh on businesses and households, a central bank survey showed Sunday. According to the survey that the Bank of Korea (BOK) [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The lower income tier spent more than half of its disposable income on food in the third quarter of this year, with consumers directly exposed to surging prices, the statistics agency said Monday. Statistics Korea’s Household Income and Expenditure Survey showed that households located in the lower 20 percent [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea and other major economies should stop a string of interest rate hikes to fight inflation, as the extended monetary tightening would exacerbate recession risks, a U.S. expert said Wednesday. Robert Barro, an economics professor at Harvard University, stressed that the central banks around the world, with the [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Concerns are growing that year-end consumption activities could drastically cool down if consumer sentiment is dampened due to the impact of the Halloween crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korea’s consumer sentiment index (CSI) has remained below 100 for five straight [...]