S. Korea to focus on bolstering investment in H2: finance minister

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's government will intensify efforts to
encourage investment in the private sector during the second half of this year in
a bid to help accelerate the nation's economic recovery, its top economic
policymaker said Wednesday.

"Currently, the economy is entering an overall recovery phase but the private
sector still lacks self-sustaining capacity," Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun
told a policy meeting of key economy-related officials. "Our policy efforts will
be focused on resuscitating investment during the second half."
The emphasis on corporate investment comes as South Korea's economy is showing
signs of rebounding from the worst downturn in more than a decade, driven by
government-led fiscal spending and other stimulus measures.
The economy, Asia's fourth-largest, grew 2.6 percent in the second quarter from
three months earlier, compared with a 5.1 percent plunge in the final quarter of
2008.
The minister has expressed concern that the government will be less capable of
shoring up the economy in the months to come after it increased spending to
stimulate the economy in the first half, calling for the private sector to take
the "baton" to accelerate the economic recovery.
Yoon said that the government will "aggressively" ease regulations, especially in
the service sector, in order to provide incentives aimed at luring corporate
investment.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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