Articles by Choi Si-young
Choi Si-young
siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com-
Policymakers to check for signs of recession ahead of rate hike
The Finance Ministry said Monday that the government would respond to any signs of economic weakness before it turns into a crisis by closely tracking indicators pointing to a worsening outlook, like inflation or recession, ahead of the Bank of Korea’s rate hike next week. The country’s five economic chiefs -- the finance minister, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s economic adviser and three separate chiefs from the central bank, top financial policymaker and financial watchdog -
Economy July 4, 2022
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Fiscal chief vows extra W40tr to help exporters
Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Sunday that he would help Korean companies sell more goods overseas by offering more loans at a time when Korea’s exports snapped 15 months of double-digit growth in June, stocking recession worries. The trade deficit in January-June this year reached $10.3 billion, the highest level ever recorded in the first six months of a year, despite record-high exports in the same period, as soaring energy prices offset the export gains. “I am not quite su
Economy July 3, 2022
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Retail inflows at 2-year low as recession worries mount
The average daily trading volume of retail investors on the main board Kospi in June dropped to its lowest level since February 2020, data from the Korea Exchange showed Sunday. The fall comes as investors are bracing for a growth slowdown from the US Federal Reserve’s rate hikes. The value of shares investors bought and sold in a day on average on the benchmark index reached 4.3 trillion won ($3.3 billion) last month. That is a little more than 3.7 trillion won recorded in February 2020
Market July 3, 2022
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KB vows to serve customers amid economic uncertainty
KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo said Friday that he would better serve customers by giving them what they need amid worsening inflation pushing up interest rates, at a biannual meeting with executives held in-person for the first time since January 2020. “The mission of financial institutions like us is to offer protection to clients, like having whatever they have with us stay unharmed in the event of a crisis,” Yoon said, describing client protection as the top priority
Industry July 3, 2022
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Slowdown to bite harder next year: experts
The US slowdown is set to cause economic headwinds for South Korea over the next year, though analysts said it would have less impact than the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Fei Xue, an Asia analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told The Korea Herald that the US and EU represent “two major export markets” for Korea and the deceleration expected to take place there soon would lead to waning demand for chips, cars and other export items. For now, such exports alongside stronger do
Economy June 30, 2022
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Worsening inflation outlook fuels sharper rate hike bets
South Korean consumers raised their outlook this month for where inflation will be in one year to the highest level in 10 years, a Bank of Korea survey showed Wednesday, reinforcing expectations that the central bank would be emboldened to back a steeper-than-expected rate hike in July. In a monthly survey of 2,500 households conducted June 13-20, consumers forecast inflation to average 3.9 percent, up from the previous 3.3 percent in May. The monthly increase is also the largest gain seen sinc
Economy June 29, 2022
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Woori Bank faces probe again over wire transfers
Woori Bank, one of the five largest lenders in South Korea, is under investigation over suspicious money transfers totaling 800 billion won ($623 million) as one of the bank employees is standing a separate trial on charges that he stole 61 billion won in the largest bank theft local lenders have seen. A Woori branch in Seoul had sent the money overseas in the last year in what the bank and authorities suspect to be fraudulent remittances that could involve money laundering, given the transacti
Industry June 27, 2022
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SC Bank Korea offers special rate until June 30
Standard Chartered Bank Korea is offering a special interest rate of up to 1.9 percent per annum, before tax, to new customers opening a checking account by the end of this month. Account holders are eligible for the special rate up to 60 days from opening the account, as long as they keep the balance between 100 million won ($77,200) and 2 billion won. The rate is adjusted each day depending on the balance at the end of day. Once new deposits reach 200 billion won, the special offer will ex
Market June 26, 2022
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Won sinks to 13-year low, Kospi slips after rate hike
The South Korean won weakened to more than 1,300 per US dollar for the first time in 13 years in onshore spot trading Thursday, breaching the key psychological threshold as recession worries boosted the dollar’s safe-haven appeal. The won lost 0.35 percent from the previous session to 1,301.8 per dollar, the lowest close since July 14, 2009, when the won dropped to 1,303 during onshore trading hours. The 1,300 mark, last seen in the wake of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, is con
Market June 23, 2022
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Korea’s household, corporate debt twice size of GDP: BOK
Debt owed by South Korean households and companies in the first quarter of this year reached a combined 3,468.4 trillion won ($2.6 trillion), or 219.4 percent of South Korea’s gross domestic product, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday, warning a rate hike could worsen repayment burdens and hurt people’s purchasing power. The central bank, set to raise borrowing costs in July amid red-hot inflation, said in a report on financial stability that household and company debts fell by 0.1 pe
Economy June 22, 2022
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BOK warns inflation will rise further
The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that South Korea could see the annual increase in consumer prices this year top the 4.7 percent marked in 2008, the highest level in the last 20 years, as a global surge in materials and food costs adds pressure on Asia’s fourth-largest economy. “Given the surging oil prices and changes in the global economy, inflation for this year will surpass the estimate made in May,” the central bank said in a biannual report on consumer prices, revising up
Economy June 21, 2022
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FSS chief calls for loan support for vulnerable
South Korea’s top financial watchdog said Monday that banks should step up efforts to protect self-employed and small business owners who are affected most by surging interest rates, at a meeting held with 17 local bank CEOs ahead of a rate decision by the Bank of Korea in July. “Rising interest rates and prices could push them into defaults and we have to be ready for that,” said Gov. Lee Bok-hyun, who was named to lead the Financial Supervisory Service two weeks ago. Th
Economy June 20, 2022
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S. Korea engulfed by rising stagflation fears
Fears over rapid inflation and sluggish growth are gripping South Korea, with indicators pointing to a gloomy outlook and authorities conceding that Asia’s fourth-largest economy is facing a “full-blown crisis.” The Finance Ministry on Thursday revised up its inflation forecast for this year to 4.7 percent from 2.2 percent, with the estimate surpassing 4 percent for the first time in 11 years. Import prices jumped 36.3 percent in May from the same period a year ago on soaring
Economy June 16, 2022
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Kospi slumps in 7-day losing streak
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi fell 45.59 points, or 1.83 percent, from a day earlier to 2447.38 Wednesday, marking a seventh straight negative session as investors dramatically raise their bets on a US Fed hike of 75 basis points on Wednesday there, steeper than the 50 basis points it had indicated. The main board slid to an intraday low of 2436.04, a new 52-week low, as foreign investors carried on a sell-off for a ninth session straight, outweighing purchases by institutional and retai
Market June 15, 2022
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As US Fed decision looms, Kospi sinks under 2,500
Simmering fears over a sharper-than-expected US Federal Reserve rate hike amid red-hot US inflation dragged down South Korea’s benchmark Kospi below the 2,500 mark for the first time in 19 months on Tuesday. The main board closed at 2,492.97, after reaching an intraday low of 2,457.39. The Fed will raise interest rates on Wednesday there, with investors dramatically raising their bets on a hike of 75 basis points, steeper than the 50 basis points the Fed had indicated
Market June 14, 2022
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