S. Korea to log 'significant' trade surplus this year: minister

SEOUL, April 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will likely record a "significant" trade
surplus this year as exports are expected to gain momentum despite a protracted
global economic slump, the nation's top economic policymaker said Wednesday.

"The country will likely post significant trade surpluses even after April,
following sharp gains in the previous two months," Finance Minister Yoon
Jeung-hyun told a weekly crisis management meeting. "With imports falling and
exports gaining momentum, the full-year surplus will be significant as well."
South Korea's trade surplus reached a record US$4.6 billion in March after a $2.9
billion surplus in the previous month. The turnaround comes after a sharp
shortfall of $3.6 billion in January.
Yoon pointed out that the currency and stock markets are stabilizing and that
industrial output and service-sector production show signs of making a rebound,
saying those are among the positive signs for the nation's economy.
He summed up the current economic situation, however, as a phase in which
"positive and negative signs are coexisting" with outside business conditions
remaining bleak for the export-driven economy.
"Later this month, the International Monetary Fund will unveil a report on the
world economy, which will likely paint a more pessimistic view," the minister
said. "Employment is also expected to remain tough."
The South Korean economy, Asia's fourth-largest, is expected to contract 2.4
percent this year, compared with 2.2 percent advance last year, according to the
latest prediction by the central bank. In the fourth quarter, gross domestic
product shrank 5.1 percent from three months earlier.
In March, the government unveiled a 28.9 trillion won extra budget, the largest
ever, to generate jobs and revive the economy, which is feared to fall into the
first recession in more than a decade. The spending plan is subject to
parliamentary approval.
"What is important at this moment is to secure the extra budget within this month
and start executing spending immediately from next month," Yoon said. He also
called for each economy-related minister to increase efforts for "efficient"
spending of the additional budget.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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