The number of South Korean corporate bankruptcies jumped to a seven-month high in November, the central bank said Monday, raising concerns at signs of an economic slowdown.
The number of companies that went belly-up totaled 130 last month, up from 118 in October, according to the Bank of Korea.
The figure is the highest since 134 bankruptcies registered in April. The BOK added that the number of newly set-up firms reached 5,432 in November, growing 358 from the previous month.
The default rate of corporate bills ― bonds, checks and promissory notes ― reached 0.02 percent last month, gaining 0.01 percentage point from October, according to the BOK.
The South Korean economy, Asia’s fourth-largest, grew 0.7 percent on-quarter in the July-September period, slowing from a 0.9 percent on-quarter growth in the second quarter.
Earlier this month, the BOK revised down its 2011 growth estimate of the local economy to 3.8 percent from a 4.3 percent projection made in July. The central bank also cut its 2012 growth forecast to 3.7 percent from an earlier estimate of 4.6 percent as Europe’s debt crisis and a global slowdown are feared to hurt exports. (Yonhap News)