ID :
54682
Thu, 04/09/2009 - 19:03
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/54682
The shortlink copeid
Economy weighed down by slumping domestic demand, exports: minister
(ATTN: ADDS with more comments, details from para 7)
SEOUL, April 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's economy is showing some positive signs,
but it is still too early to predict a quick recovery as exports and domestic
demand remain in a slump, the nation's top economic policymaker said Thursday.
"It is true that our economy is showing positive signals in some areas," Finance
Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun told lawmakers. "Industrial and service-sector output is
growing month-on-month, and currency and stock markets are also stabilizing."
"Still, exports and domestic demand remain weak. With global economic outlooks
being lowered, it is tough to know whether to be optimistic or pessimistic," he
added.
Buffeted by global financial turmoil and a worldwide recession, South Korea's
economy, Asia's fourth-largest, shrank 5.1 percent in the fourth quarter from
three months earlier and is expected to post minus growth this year for the first
time since the 1997-98 financial meltdown.
Exports, which account for around 60 percent of the nation's gross domestic
product, declined 21.2 percent in March from a year earlier, after declining 18.3
percent the previous month.
The government has been pushing to reinvigorate the economy with expanded fiscal
spending, tax reductions and other deregulations. Recently, it endorsed a
large-scale extra budget aimed at generating jobs and reviving the overall
economy.
Yoon, meanwhile, said in the National Assembly interpellation session that while
the size of foreign reserves has increased slightly, Seoul plans to do more to
ensure adequate liquidity.
"Adequate foreign reserves are important because they have a stabilizing effect
on national credibility," he stressed. He also claimed that the gain in foreign
reserves is a sign of improvement in economic fundamentals.
On the ongoing debate about the size of state debt, the finance minister said
even if measured by standards set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, Seoul's debt does not exceed 40 percent of the gross domestic
product (GDP).
He said claims by some opposition lawmakers that South Korea's state debt is 80
percent of its GDP are inaccurate.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, April 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's economy is showing some positive signs,
but it is still too early to predict a quick recovery as exports and domestic
demand remain in a slump, the nation's top economic policymaker said Thursday.
"It is true that our economy is showing positive signals in some areas," Finance
Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun told lawmakers. "Industrial and service-sector output is
growing month-on-month, and currency and stock markets are also stabilizing."
"Still, exports and domestic demand remain weak. With global economic outlooks
being lowered, it is tough to know whether to be optimistic or pessimistic," he
added.
Buffeted by global financial turmoil and a worldwide recession, South Korea's
economy, Asia's fourth-largest, shrank 5.1 percent in the fourth quarter from
three months earlier and is expected to post minus growth this year for the first
time since the 1997-98 financial meltdown.
Exports, which account for around 60 percent of the nation's gross domestic
product, declined 21.2 percent in March from a year earlier, after declining 18.3
percent the previous month.
The government has been pushing to reinvigorate the economy with expanded fiscal
spending, tax reductions and other deregulations. Recently, it endorsed a
large-scale extra budget aimed at generating jobs and reviving the overall
economy.
Yoon, meanwhile, said in the National Assembly interpellation session that while
the size of foreign reserves has increased slightly, Seoul plans to do more to
ensure adequate liquidity.
"Adequate foreign reserves are important because they have a stabilizing effect
on national credibility," he stressed. He also claimed that the gain in foreign
reserves is a sign of improvement in economic fundamentals.
On the ongoing debate about the size of state debt, the finance minister said
even if measured by standards set by the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development, Seoul's debt does not exceed 40 percent of the gross domestic
product (GDP).
He said claims by some opposition lawmakers that South Korea's state debt is 80
percent of its GDP are inaccurate.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)
