SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean credit card companies posted a small increase in their net profits in the first nine months of 2016, undeterred by commission cuts, data showed Wednesday. They lowered the fee rates early this year for merchants with the annual sales of between 200 million won (US$170,000) and 300 [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – The Bank of Korea base rate dropped in June to a record low 1.25 percent. Commercial institutions followed suit, adjusting their interest rates. And as of September, no banks offered time deposit accounts with 2 percent or higher interest rates. Saving in Korea is no longer a lucrative business. [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s top financial regulator said Wednesday the related authorities will do their best for market stabilization with an “utmost sense of tension,” as Americans caught the world off guard by choosing Donald Trump as their next president. “Following the U.S. presidential elections, the expansion of swings at South [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean shares plunged Wednesday as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won the White House. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 45.00 points, or 2.25 percent, to 1,958.38. The index fell to an intraday low of 1.931.07 during the [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Amid stagnant growth of local household consumption, a recent study indicated that the elderly will play an essential role in leading Korea’s future consumption. According to the report – Consumption Status of the Elderly and its Implications – compiled by the Bank of Korea’s research bureau, the contribution rate [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – The government announced Sunday a revision to its Rules on Housing Supply, to include fetuses and adoptees as part of its ‘multi-child special housing supply’ program. The program was designed to promote child birth with Korea’s fertility rate stuck among the lowest in the world, and gives priority in [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s financial authorities on Monday announced a shift to an emergency operation mode to cope with a host of challenges facing Asia’s fourth-largest economy. Yim Jong-yong, tapped as the nation’s finance minister, described the current situations as a crisis that’s like “stepping on thin ice.” Yim, chairman of [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea said Friday it will strengthen partnerships with Silicon Valley on financial technology, called fintech. The Fintech Center of Korea signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with two high-profile organizations — 500 Startups and Silicon Valley Forum — for the initiative on the sidelines of a South Korean Fintech [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The National Pension Fund (NPF), South Korea’s largest institutional investor, is expected to inject some 1 trillion won (US$870.5 million) into the stock market this month, financial sources said Thursday, a welcome booster to the market in need of positive energy. According to the sources, the pension operator is [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Growing household debt and a looming U.S. rate hike are two major systemic risks facing South Korea’s financial system, a survey showed Thursday. The household debt issue topped the list of key systemic risks cited by market watchers at 70 percent, compared with 54 percent in April, according to [...]