S. Korea’s economy sees little improvement despite recovery in exports: KDI


Korea’s economic progress remains moderate despite tangible gains in exports amid a number of lingering internal and external risk factors.
Park Kun-woo has more on the latest assessment by a local think tank.

South Korea’s overall economic improvement “remains somewhat modest,” despite exports recovering.
That’s according to the Monthly Economic Trends report for July released on Monday by the Korea Development Institute, a state-run thinktank.
According to the report, exports jumped by over five percent on-year in June mainly due to robust shipments of ICT products.
Though that was a smaller jump than the previous month due to fewer working days, export figures measured on a daily basis saw a bigger rise than May.
And the country’s trade balance saw a surplus of eight billion U.S. dollars in June, which was over three billion dollars higher than the previous month. as overall imports shrank due to lower domestic demand.
The KDI’s report also showed that all-industry production in May saw an on-year increase of 2-point-2 percent, down 1-point-1 percentage points from the month before.
Despite strong performance for the chip sector, exceeding 18 percent growth, lower production in automobiles and electrical equipment led to the weaker growth rate for total industrial production.
And the thinktank said the continuous high interest rates attributed to poor domestic demand.
Retail sales in May fell by 3-point-1 percent on-year, mainly due to low sales in automobiles and apparel.
Investment for equipment and construction also both saw on-year drops.
The KDI also mentioned external risk factors including the volatility of oil prices due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, along with uncertainties in monetary policies globally.

Park Kun-woo, Arirang News.

Source : Arirang TV, https://www.arirang.com/news/view?id=272990
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