SEOUL, Oct. 31 (Korea Bizwire) – New car registrations in South Korea have fallen to their lowest level in 11 years during the first three quarters of 2024, according to data released by the Korea Automobile Mobility & Industry Association (KAMA) on October 30. Total new vehicle registrations for January through September reached 1,209,154 units, marking [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Excess funds held by South Korean households has fallen for eight quarters in a row amid high inflation and interest rates, data showed Wednesday. The monthly surplus of a local household came to 1.01 million won (US$753.3) per month on average in the second quarter, down 1.7 percent from [...]
SEOUL, Jun. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said Wednesday it will take longer for the people to feel a recent economic recovery due mainly to still-high interest rates and inflation, vowing policy priority on supporting small businesses and other vulnerable classes. Choi made the remarks during an economy-related ministers’ meeting in Seoul, [...]
SEOUL, Jun. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Thursday called for beefing up an “external safety net” to better respond to uncertainties regarding interest rates in the United States and other nations. Choi made the remarks during an emergency macroeconomic meeting meant to assess the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting meeting Wednesday (U.S. time), [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – The persistently high interest rate environment in South Korea has triggered a wave of cancellations for low-yielding savings-type insurance policies, driving down the two-year policy retention rate at insurers to a mere 65% last year, according to data released on April 23. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the government’s financial [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The potential uncollected loans by four major financial holding firms jumped 49 percent on year in 2023, as high interest rates took a toll on borrowers, data showed Tuesday. The value of potential uncollected loans came to 1.96 trillion won (US$1.47 billion) in 2023, up 48.8 percent from the [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – Amidst the ongoing economic challenges marked by high inflation and interest rates, recent data has revealed that individuals in their 30s and 40s who have taken on debt to purchase homes are the ones who have most drastically cut back on their spending following the rise in interest rates. A [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – As consumers grapple with rising inflation and interest rates leading to a domestic slowdown, the recommerce market, involving the resale of used items and collectible goods like luxury and limited edition products, is gaining momentum. Estimates suggest that the domestic recommerce market has recently surpassed a value of 30 trillion [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – In the current bond purchasing trend, individual investors are transitioning from bonds with maturities exceeding 10 years to short-term bonds with maturities of less than one year. As interest rates surge and bond prices decline, driven by the Federal Reserve’s indication of a prolonged tightening stance, individual investors are displaying [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — A number of South Korea’s credit issuers and credit finance firms are downsizing their auto installment financing offerings due to the difficulty in raising funds in a prolonged high interest rate. For these companies, installment interest rates for new cars (based on an installment period of 60 months) stood [...]