The International Monetary Fund announced Tuesday that it had downgraded this year’s outlook for global economic growth, citing continued risks. In its most recent report on the global economic outlook, the IMF lowered this year’s global economic growth projection to 3.3 percent, 0.2 percentage point down from three months ago.The IMF also lowered Korea’s expected growth rate to 2.8 percent, 0.4 percentage point down from three months ago, citing the country’s weak exports and domestic consumpti

ING Life Korea said stability and flexibility are two unchanging boosters for annuity sales, as shown in customers’ strong demand for its signature non-par annuity “Free Style.”Annuities are financial products generally used to build up savings in preparation for retirement.ING has been locally rated “AAA” for five consecutive years on its IFSR, or Insurer Finance Strength Rating. Having begun operation here under its former name Life of Georgia in 1989, the insurer changed its name to ING Life

Imported whiskey distributor Diageo Korea announced on Tuesday it will launch a foundation to further strengthen its social contribution activities.The hard liquor distributor told press its plan to donate 5 billion won over the next five years through the Diageo Korea Foundation, which begins operation on July 1. They plan to set aside 1 billion won each year.  Shortly after the announcement, Diageo Korea signed a cooperative pact with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, vowing to prior

British American Tobacco Korea launched its newest edition of “Dunhill LIGHTS,” the tobacco maker said Monday. Targeting young adults, the upgraded version of Dunhill LIGHTS is 2,700 won ($2.40) a pack and contains 6 milligrams of tar.“Dunhill blend masters came up with a special and unique blend for the new Dunhill LIGHTS using top quality tobacco leaves,” BAT said in a statement, saying the company carried out some 300 quality tests to best reflect young consumers’ taste. Upon the launch, BAT

Tens of thousands of job hunters, ranging from high school graduates to retirees, flocked to a job fair cohosted by two KB Financial Group affiliates in COEX, southeastern Seoul on Monday. Organized by KB Financial Group and its two affiliates KB Kookmin Bank and KB Financial Foundation, “KB Goodjob” is the lender’s fifth-largest job convention and the largest one-day job fair, group officials said. The group noted that this year’s KB Goodjob was designed to help job applicants ― regardless of f

The National Tax Service on Thursday vowed to focus on tax collection from the nation’s underground economy to secure funds needed to promote the government’s welfare programs.Revealing its 2013 policy direction at a meeting of heads of NTS’ local offices in Seoul, the tax agency said it hopes to secure an extra 28.5 trillion won ($25.2 billion) in the five-year plan to secure an increased welfare budget, aside from its usual tax collection activities. The tax agency said it would focus its inve

Richard Hill, chief executive of Standard Charted Bank Korea, has proven his leadership by harmonizing sustainable management with long-term corporate contributions to the local community, bank officials said. They said he has shown strong leadership in promoting both shared growth and social contributions to local communities to help the company develop sustainable growth. Hill joined Standard Chartered in January 2006 as chief financial officer in the financial group’s unit in Singapore. In Ja

The economic participation rate of the 50-59 age group soared to 73.8 percent in 2012, the highest rate since 2000, data showed Tuesday. The rate was 73.1 percent in 2011 and 72.7 percent in 2010. According reports from the Korea Exchange and Statistics Korea, however, the economic participation rate of the so-called “baby boomer generation” of those born between 1955 and 1963 is expected to abruptly decline as they will soon reach retirement age. The baby boomers make up about 14 percent of the

The Industrial Bank of Korea on Monday revealed plans to offer rescue loans to embattled South Korean firms operating in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.The IBK set aside a 100 billion won ($88 million) rescue loan fund for these companies to help them cover costs amid heightening inter-Korean tensions which have hindered regular operations. Pyongyang has blocked South Korean vehicles and workers from entering the inter-Korean industrial complex since last Wednesday. Unable to provide materials,

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Mobile telecommunication operator SK Telecom had the highest average annual paycheck for employees among major Korean companies last year, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service on Thursday. The data showed that SK Telecom’s average per-capita salary of its more than 4,000 employees was about 98.8 million won ($88,000). The country’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and foreign exchange specialist Korea Exchange Bank were listed at No. 2 and No. 3, with the average annual sa

The Park Geun-hye government launched Friday a state fund aimed at rescheduling heavy borrowers’ debt programs to help them out of debt.Prime Minister Chung Hong-won and financial leaders including Financial Services Commission chairman Shin Je-yoon and Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Choi Soo-hyun attended the launch held at the state-run debt monitoring agency Korea Asset Management Co. in Seoul.The establishment of the “National Happiness Fund” was one of Park’s core election pledges made

Shinhan Bank said Thursday that its “matrix operation,” or business coordination between banks and brokerages, has yielded considerable gains since it introduced the system last year. As a fresh business concept, the matrix was adopted by the country’s major banks with an affiliate brokerage firm, such as Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank and Woori Bank, as early as the beginning of 2012. Shinhan Bank is historically the first bank in Korea, originally established under the name Hanseong Bank in 1897. The

Consumers’ expectations for economic recovery in March marked the highest in 10 months, the Bank of Korea said on Wednesday. The BOK’s data showed that the consumer sentiment index hit a record-high 104 in March, a two-point increase from a month ago. A CSI over 100 means that consumers have a positive view of the country’s economic status. Additionally, the consumer sentiment for expenditure reached as high as 109, implying that consumers find themselves capable of spending more money in the fu

Among countless corporate social sharing programs, KB Kookmin Card’s social contributions specifically aim to bolster the nation as a whole. Embracing the core needs of all age groups and ethnicities is the essential part of the ambitious sharing project. KB Kookmin Card has been one of the “big 4” credit finance card companies, wielding power in the credit card and check card sectors in particular, since its launch in 2011.Applied to the sharing project is the company’s extensive experience dat

The Bank of Korea will likely raise interest rates in the third quarter of this year as Korea picks up momentum on economic growth and inflation, the Asia research head of HSBC said. HSBC Korea disclosed on Friday a global research report by Ronald Man, economist and HSBC global research head of Asia, claiming that inflation pressure and a boost in international trade would keep the current sustained growth rolling. Man wrote in his report that “we maintain our view that the monetary easing cycl

Government agencies and public institutions have been more exposed to cyber attacks than any organization in the private sector, a study showed.The private Financial Security Agency said Thursday that the number of daily responses to cyber attacks from government and public organizations in 2011 was an average 20.5 times.The financial sector, which was a target of Wednesday’s hacking attack, also responded 11.8 times on a daily basis to Advanced Persistent Threats. APT is a type of targeted cybe

The number of Chinese travelers to Korea exceeded Japanese travelers for the first time in February, the Korea Tourism Organization said Wednesday.KTO data revealed that about 219,400 Chinese tourists flew to Korea in February, a steep 61 percent increase compared to 132,900 in February, 2012. This indicates that three out of every 10 foreign tourists to Korea are Chinese, the KTO said. The data showed that the number of Japanese tourists who entered the country by flight between January and Feb

BNP Paribas Cardif Life Insurance came out on top in the environmental preservation sector at the state-sponsored 2013 Adding Happiness Social Contribution Award Ceremony, the company said on Tuesday. The corporate social sharing award is presented in recognition of BNP’s unique social sharing project, “Happy Forest for Sharing,” as well as other “different but professional” social sharing projects in partnership with NGOs and experts, the Korean subsidiary of European insurance firm BNP Paribas

Dogged by job in security and retirement plans, Koreans in their 50s and 60s are less satisfied with their financial situation than younger people, a study showed Monday.The private Hyundai Research Institute said its economic happiness index for 2012 showed that all age groups tended to self-evaluate their economic happiness as very low in general ― an average 40.4 points out of a maximum 100.The index takes into account six factors: income level, economic distribution, expenditure level, job s