SEOUL, April 12 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s household loans extended by local banks rose 10 percent in March from a year earlier due to increased mortgages, central bank data showed Wednesday. Outstanding household loans from local lenders came to 713.9 trillion won (US$621 billion) as of end-March, compared with 649 trillion won from a [...]
SEOUL, April 11 (Korea Bizwire) – A majority of South Korean manufacturing companies expect their business conditions to improve in the second quarter of the year amid signs of a recovery in exports, a poll showed Tuesday. According to the survey of 645 manufacturers conducted by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), [...]
SEOUL, April 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Moody’s Investors Service said Thursday it will maintain the current ratings for Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. despite sharp declines in auto sales in China. “Although Hyundai’s and Kia’s weak auto unit shipments from China will likely have a short-term negative impact on their profitability and cash [...]
SEOUL, March 27 (Korea Bizwire) – Two-thirds of South Korean firms plan to increase their spending on facility investment this year, a survey by the central bank showed Monday, as the nation’s exports show signs of a recovery. The Bank of Korea said in a statement that 66.7 percent of the 271 manufacturers checked said [...]
SEOUL, March 22 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s terms of trade deteriorated slightly in February from a year earlier as a rise in export prices was offset by a hike in import prices, central bank data showed Wednesday. The terms of trade index for products came to 100.48 last month, down 2.9 percent from a [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – More than 90 percent of South Koreans believe the country’s economy has entered a state of depression, a survey showed Sunday, with many expecting current conditions to persist down the road. In a nationwide survey of 800 people over the age of 19, 93.9 percent of the respondents said [...]