This photo, provided by the finance ministry, shows Minister Choi Sang-mok (R) speaking during a meeting with ministry officials on inflation and other pending issues in Seoul on March 18, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Monday called for extra effort by government officials to bring inflation under control amid weak private consumption, his office said.
Choi made the call during a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, where he also instructed them to come up with measures to promote investment for “balanced economic recovery.”
“The current inflation situation is still serious and economic sentiment remains low. All employees must stay vigilant and make all-out efforts for responses,” Choi said.
The South Korean economy has been on a recovery track led by rising exports, but domestic demand remains sluggish amid still-high inflation and high interest rates.
Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose back to over 3 percent in a month in February to stand at 3.1 percent on high prices of fruits, vegetables and other fresh food items, as well as high energy costs.
Prices of 18 major kinds of fruit, including apples and pears, combined surged 41.2 percent last month, the largest increase in more than 32 years, according to the data by Statistics Korea.
The government has said that inflation has been moderating, but the pace has been and is forecast to be slower than earlier expected before reaching the target rate of 2 percent by around the end of this year.
Last week, the government and the ruling People Power Party announced a decision to inject 150 billion won (US$113 million) for discount programs, subsidies and various policy measures meant to stabilize prices of agricultural and livestock products.
The government had initially earmarked 106 billion won for discount programs for farm produce purchases this year.
(Yonhap)
