SEOUL, Korea, April 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Last year, the number of cards issued, both credit and debit, declined for the first time. According to the Bank of Korea’s “Payment and Settlement Report for 2013,” a total of 209.03 million cards were issued last year, down 4.3 percent from the previous year’s 218.46 million. This [...]
SEOUL, Korea, April 7 (Korea Bizwire) – Although the Korean economy is expected to make a long-awaited recovery this year, its growth rate is estimated to be much lower than those of Asian major economies. According to the Asian Development Bank, Korea’s economy is expected to grow 3.7 percent this year, nearly one percentage point [...]
SEOUL, Korea, April 2 (Korea Bizwire) – Among all bank deposits the proportion of household bank deposits has exceeded 50 percent for the first time in six years. Korean households just not feeling economic recovery as yet appear to have parked their money in the bank. On April 1, the Bank of Korea reported that [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Mar 29, 2014 (Korea Bizwire) – Last year, household consumption spending has increased 1.2 percent, year on year, which seemed rather slow. The fluctuation was seen here and there depending on the areas of expenditure. On March 28, the Bank of Korea said, the sales of furniture and home appliances such as air-conditioners [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Mar 6 (Korea Bizwire) – A while ago the Bank of Korea published a report on people’s tendency toward rarely opening up their wallets for fears of post-retirement livelihood. Then are Korean consumers saving more instead of spending? The reality is savings are falling as much as consumption. What’s going on here? According [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Feb 21 (Korea Bizwire) – As the KOSPI is exhibiting high volatility this year to date, individual investors are leaving the market in droves. The deposit balance with securities firms by investors has fallen to the level of 13 trillion won, a three-year low, and is showing little signs of regaining. Investors [...]