SEOUL, May 25 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s credit card spending on furniture rose sharply in the first two months of this year on the back of a rise in home transactions as the local property market has been on a clear recovery track, data showed Monday. According to the data compiled by the Bank [...]
SEOUL, May 22 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s top central banker on Friday raised worries over bleak job market prospects for the younger generation in the coming years as the country is ready to extend the retirement age to 60 next year, echoing recent policy efforts aimed at revving up structural reform. “Employment is a [...]
SEOUL, May 11 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund said Monday it has logged a cumulative US$14.7 billion in investment profit as of the end of last year following its establishment in 2005. Its overall return on investment reached 10 percent last year, while its annual return on investment in the past five [...]
SEOUL, May 7 (Korea Bizwire) — China became South Korea’s second-largest investment destination last year, relegating the European Union (EU) to the third spot, central bank data showed Thursday. South Korea’s external investment, which includes stocks and bonds, reached US$716.6 billion at the end of last year, up $95.5 billion from the previous year, according to [...]
SEOUL, May 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s monthly current account surplus rose to a four-month high in March, extending its surplus streak to a 37th straight month, data showed Monday. The current account surplus hit US$10.39 billion in March, nearly doubling from a $6.44 billion surplus in the previous month, according to the provisional data [...]
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s top central bank said Tuesday the country’s economic recovery is gaining momentum despite external risks but stressed that structural reform is necessary for long-term growth. Bank of Korea (BOK) data released last week showed that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.8 percent on-quarter in the first three [...]
“The most important policy task is to keep the recovery momentum. The government must take a more prominent role in solidifying growth. The government is keeping close tabs on economic developments and will come up with policy measures that can best meet the country’s needs.” “Pushing back the retirement age will put more financial burden [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean companies’ revenues declined at a record annual pace in 2014 as the firmer local currency and weak oil prices worked to lower export prices and reduce overseas sales, central bank data showed Thursday. Combined sales at 1,536 listed firms and 195 non-listed key companies sank 1.5 percent [...]
“The rate cut and the expansion of the loan facility cap (for smaller firms) were based on the judgment that growth and inflation is likely to significantly underperform the expected course. We judged that there is a need to implement additional measures before forecasts are released in order to strengthen growth momentum and ultimately expand [...]
SEOUL, March 25 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean economy expanded 3.3 percent in 2014 as increased facility investments offset slowing growth in construction investment and exports, the central bank said Wednesday. The revised 2014 reading by the Bank of Korea (BOK) is on par with an earlier estimate of 3.3 percent released in January. It [...]