“North Korea’s attack should have little impact on the country’s financial sector, although downside risks associated with the United States raising its key interest rates and uncertainties coming out of China need to be checked. The government is ready to respond proactively to all uncertainties.” “There was a strengthening of the U.S. dollar compared with [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Hybrid funds with a mixed portfolio of stocks and bonds have been absorbing money as investors prefer relatively safe vehicles with higher yields over fixed deposits that offer record-low interest payments, data showed Tuesday. Investors have added a net 4.23 trillion won (US$3.58 billion) into the hybrid funds as [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Large South Korean companies have sent more than US$400 billion to offshore tax havens over the past eight years, with nearly 40 percent of the amount yet to be returned home, data showed Sunday. According to the data by the Bank of Korea and other government agencies, local big firms remitted [...]
SEOUL, July 9 (Korea Bizwire) – An exporter and a banker have been arrested by the prosecutors’ office for illegal transfers of Iranian money worth 25.9 billion won (US$22.8 million) via a Korean bank to third-party companies. The Busan District Prosecutors’ Office announced on July 8 that it had arrested an exporter and a banker, [...]
SEOUL, June 28 (Korea Biziwre) — A South Korean think tank downgraded the country’s economic growth forecast for 2015, citing weak exports coupled with the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which has claimed 32 lives. The Korea Economic Research Institute said it has slashed the economic growth forecast to 2.7 percent for 2015, compared [...]
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Bank lending to households and businesses in South Korea has been rising at a fast clip over the past year as interest rates remain persistently low, central bank data showed Sunday. Outstanding bank loans to household and corporate borrowers came to 1,302.4 trillion (US$1.19 trillion) as of last Monday, [...]
SEJONG, June 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans are cutting back on their cash gifts and donations as the economy remains sluggish, government data showed Friday. According to the data by Statistics Korea, transfer spending that includes cash given as wedding and condolence gifts fell in the first quarter after backtracking in the October-December period. [...]
“(The BOK) will likely proceed in the direction of sustaining its accommodative stance as it is difficult to be positive about domestic economic recovery. Policy circumstances may rapidly change due to factors such as a possible U.S. rate hike, but there is a need to be prudent in adjusting the stance of the monetary policy [...]
SEOUL, June 11 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s central bank on Thursday lowered the base rate to a record low of 1.5 percent amid growing concerns the country’s first-ever outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) will likely dent growth and consumption. In the monthly rate-setting meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Korea (BOK) [...]
SEOUL, June 7 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s government and the central bank may be pressed to conduct expansionary fiscal policy and cut the key rate on concerns that the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is likely to weigh on economic growth, experts said Sunday. South Korea reported its fifth death from the [...]