SEJONG -- The chief of the International Monetary Fund on Friday dismissed the possibility that South Korea would face a financial crisis, seemingly suggesting that the current economic situation of the nation is different from the 1997 or 2008 crises. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the remarks of IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva came during a meeting with Korea’s De...

SEJONG -- South Korea’s top economic policymaker on Thursday called for close collaboration between the Korean government and the World Bank Group to address major global issues, such as tackling climate change. In his meeting with WB Group President David Malpass in Washington, DC, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho stressed the role of World Bank's local liaison office at...

WASHINGTON/SEJONG -- South Korea's finance minister said Thursday the central bank's decision to take another big-step rate hike was necessary to cope with inflation and the strong US dollar. On the previous day, the Bank of Korea (BOK) raised the benchmark seven-day repo rate from 2.5 percent to 3 percent in line with efforts to bring inflation under control. It is the first time in about 10 ye...

SEJONG -- South Korea’s economic policymakers said the government will allow foreign-based financial firms to “directly” participate in the local foreign exchange market during a meeting with global investment bank executives. Saying that the policy is a part of the government’s effort to provide a foreign investor-friendly environment, the officials reiterated that Korea is mapping out details ...

The Bank of Korea returned to its second outsized rate hike since July as a surging US dollar and higher import bills chip away at efforts to curb persistent inflation. The central bank raised its policy rate to a 10-year high of 3 percent by 50 basis points on Wednesday -- an increase that is twice the usual size and marks a break from the August guidance that supported a gradual 25 basis point...

The chief of South Korea's trade lobby group has called for the United States to allow at least a three-year delay in the implementation of a new US law on tax credits for electric vehicle buyers seen as a disadvantage to Korean automakers. Koo Ja-yeol, chair of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), delivered the message when he met with US Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Pat Wilson, ...

SEJONG -- The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday suggested a gloomy prediction for the 2023 economy of the world as well as South Korea, citing protracted downside risks such as high inflation and cheap currencies against the US dollar. In its World Economic Outlook, the US-based organization revised its forecast on the 2023 gross domestic product growth of global economy down to 2.7 percent...

South Korean officials held a meeting with domestic car and battery makers Tuesday to discuss responses to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as Washington sought public input on its implementation amid concerns over its discriminatory features, the industry ministry said. The IRA, signed by US President Joe Biden in August, excludes electric vehicles assembled outside of North America from tax ...

South Korea's customs agency said Tuesday it has detected 256.7 billion won ($179.6 million) worth of imported items disguised as being locally produced through September this year. The amount marks a 35 percent rise from the same period a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service. Among the major items were optical instruments, with their value reaching 115.8 billion, followed by ma...

South Korea's exports slipped 20.2 percent on-year in the first 10 days of October due mainly to sluggish overseas sales of chips, data showed Tuesday. The country's outbound shipments stood at $11.8 billion in the Oct. 1-10 period, compared with $14.8 billion a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Imports also went down 11.3 percent on-year to $15.6 billion durin...

SEJONG -- More than 80 percent of all apartment purchases by foreigners over the past seven years were made by US and Chinese nationals, an opposition party lawmaker said on Monday. According to relevant documents, which were handed over to Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the Democratic Party of Korea from both the Land Ministry and the Korea Real Estate Board, foreigners bought 29,792 apartments in the...

Some 381,000 households would be unable to repay their loans even if they liquidated everything they have including their homes, as of December last year, Bank of Korea data showed Monday. The report -- revealed by Rep. Kang Jun-hyeon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea as part of the annual parliamentary audit -- said “riskier borrowers” account for 3.2 percent of the entire loan g...

Some 380,000 households in South Korea were found to be at high risk of financial default due to excessive debt burdens, a central bank report showed Monday. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) report submitted to Rep. Kang Joon-hyun of the main opposition Democratic Party, the number of households at high risk in terms of financial liabilities reached 381,000 as of the end of last year. The B...

Eating out costs rise 9 percent, highest increase since 1992

Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong expresses skepticism on long-term effects of possible currency swap deal with US