Korean lenders’ personal credit loans extended to borrowers gained 2.3 percent on-month in July, following the largest-ever increase in June, data showed Tuesday, fueling concerns on the nation’s heated housing market and the dire job market amid the coronavirus pandemic. Outstanding personal loans extended to individual borrowers by five major lenders here rose a combined 2.28 percent, or 2.7 trillion won ($2.26 billion), from the previous month to 120.2 trillion won last month, in

Despite the nation’s monetary and fiscal policymakers’ measures to funnel liquidity into the market to offset risks from the coronavirus, cash flows into unexpected areas, such as bank deposits, have been fueling concerns of a liquidity trap, officials and experts recently noted. South Korea’s M2 money supply came to 3.065 quadrillion won ($2.56 trillion) in May, up 10.6 percent on-year, data from the Bank of Korea released in July showed. The figure marked the largest amou

The performance of South Korean financial groups was all over the map in the April-June period, and the coronavirus pandemic is prompting many to draw up digitalization plans for the second half of the year. The nation’s list of top groups by earnings got a reshuffle in recent weeks, with Shinhan Financial Group -- which had maintained the top spot for some time -- handing over the crown to KB Financial Group. Shinhan Financial said Friday it posted net profit of 873.1 billion won ($725

South Korea’s industrial output gained 4.2 percent on-month in June, showing signs of recovery from the contractions prompted by the coronavirus pandemic in recent months, data from Statistics Korea showed Friday. Along with industrial output -- which had rebounded from a 1.2 percent on-month drop in May and a consistent five-month slide -- retail sales and facility investment inched up 2.4 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively, in the same period. This put the key indicators of the nati

The coronavirus pandemic and the recent fund misspelling fiasco have reversed South Korea’s list of top financial groups, propelling those who dodged bullets to the top with better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, data showed Tuesday. Of the major institutions that have disclosed their second-quarter earnings, Woori Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group -- which their flagship lender and brokerage units were accused of misselling either derivatives-linked funds or now-frozen

Woori Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea reported on Monday that their second-quarter net profit plummeted by 45 percent and 25 percent, respectively, weighed down by risks stemming from the coronavirus and hedge fund misselling. Woori Bank’s net profit for the April-June period slipped 45.28 percent on-year to 682.1 billion won ($570.2 million), while its operating profit fell 35.04 percent to 1.3 trillion won. But revenue increased 21.34 percent to 13.8 trillion won. The commercial ban

Buoyed by the recovery of global oil prices, South Korea’s producer price index rose 0.5 percent on-month in June, ending a monthslong slide, the nation’s central bank said Tuesday. The producer price index for all commodities and services here inched up 0.5 percent on-month to 102.52, data released by the Bank of Korea showed. It had remained flat in May after extending a decline in the February-April period, weighed down by the coronavirus pandemic. “The recovery of global

South Korea has been seeing an increase in zombie firms -- especially those who have been incapable of covering annual borrowing costs for more than two years –- and they have been dragging down the manufacturing sector’s labor productivity, a report by the nation’s central bank said Monday. The Bank of Korea defined zombie firms as at least 10 years old and unable to cover debt servicing costs from current profits due to struggling with an interest coverage ratio below 1 for

The South Korean unit of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets hosted a virtual seminar on industrial safety awareness Thursday for companies receiving investments from its funds, it said Friday. The seminar was part of Safety Day, which the company holds annually in an effort to prevent industrial disasters and help companies understand related risks. It was carried out virtually this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the participation of officials from Macquarie Group and project

KB Financial Group said Friday that it has relocated its startup accelerator program to a WeWork branch here and plans to recruit its first tenants. The venue for the KB Starters program, dubbed the KB Innovation Hub, was relocated earlier this month to an approximately 1,000-square-meter space within WeWork Korea’s Sinnonhyeon branch in southern Seoul. Its previous venue was a 600-square-meter coworking space nearby. Cooperation with WeWork Korea will also allow program participants

In a largely anticipated move, South Korea’s central bank on Thursday decided to hold its policy rate at a record-low of 0.5 percent while casting bleaker projections for this year’s gross domestic product growth rate. The Bank of Korea’s seven-member monetary policy board unanimously voted to keep the rate frozen at the rate they had slashed by 25 basis points in May to minimize economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The decision in May came two months after the boa

Agencies handling the Moon Jae-in administration’s ambitious measures to cool down the heated real estate market revealed Wednesday that they are not all on the same page over the possibility of lifting the construction ban in greenbelt areas. In an interview with local news outlet MBC on Tuesday, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki said the government is open to the possibility of lifting the construction ban in certain designated greenbelt zones to resolve the nation

The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea said Wednesday it plans to launch a new mobile untact -- non face-to-face contact -- mortgage product for customers. The product, designed to support self-employed or small business owners, will be extended through IBK’s mobile banking app I-One Bank. Users will be required to submit only basic personal information, instead of actual paper documents. The time tied to the process of receiving the mortgage will be shortened, as borrowers will b

South Korea’s Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee on Tuesday refuted growing criticism over the government’s focus on raising taxes rather than dealing with housing supply shortage. In its latest effort to curb the heated real estate market, the Moon Jae-in administration rolled out its 22nd set of policy actions dubbed the “July 10 measures” last week, which centers on increasing taxes for multiple-home owners. But it was immediately hit with waves of criticisms from both

South Korea’s central bank is expected to keep its base rate frozen near-zero at its regular monetary policy meeting scheduled Thursday, to avoid further aggravation of the local housing market, experts said Sunday. According to experts, the Bank of Korea will maintain its policy rate at the current record-low of 0.5 percent for the time being, despite rate cut pressures stemming from economic downturns due to the coronavirus pandemic coupled with the trend of low inflation. This is main

South Korea urged the Group of 20 countries to establish a stronger global financial safety net to overcome both ongoing and upcoming risks stemming from the latest coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Thursday. “(Establishment) of a global financial network is a strong measure that could help stop the spread of the crisis by supporting developing countries dealing with liquidity issues,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said at an o

KB Financial Group is scheduled to hold an online workshop of executives and board members led by Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo on Friday to discuss plans for the post-virus era and digital innovation, sources close to the matter said Wednesday. Yoon is expected to adjust the time frame and specific plans for the banking group’s goals for this year including expansion of business and digital innovation. The local banking groups’ initial plans and time frame for this year –- includi

South Korea’s consumption has recovered slightly on the back of the government’s emergency cash handout, but its economic activity and exports remain sluggish, still weighed down by risks stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. “The slowdown in Korea‘s consumption has decelerated, but economic activity remains sluggish due to falling external demand on the global spread of COVID-19,” the Korea Development Institute said in it

Citibank Korea said Tuesday it has launched an artificial intelligence-based chatbot consulting service to bolster its untact (contactless) digital customer service. According to the South Korean subsidiary of the New York-based bank, the service provides round-the-clock consulting for customers that need immediate consulting. It can be used after adding Citibank channel via messenger app KakaoTalk. The AI chatbot will help customers find the nearest Citibank branch and provide information

한국수출입은행 (이하 ‘수은’)은 대외경제협력기금 (이하 ‘EDCF’)를 통해 파키스탄과 새로운 IT사업을 추진 중이다. 6일 수은 관계자는 코리아헤럴드와의 통화에서 2017년 파키스탄 ‘IT파크 건립사업’에 이어 더 큰 규모의 사업과 차관공여계약을 계획하고 있다고 밝혔다. 수은은 2017년 파키스탄의 수도 이슬라바마드에 세워질 IT파크 사업에 7천600만달러의 대외경제협력기금을 앞서 지원한바 있다. 관계자는 파키스탄 IT 신사업은 단순한 건물 이상의 “국가전체적으로 유형.무형 인프라를 만들어보자‘는 취지에서 의논되었으며 ’전자정보‘ 관련 사업이 추진될 가능성도 높다고 했다. 다만 신사업은 현재 구체화되지 않았으며 파키스탄과의 관련 사업 논의는 전 세계적으로 유행 중인 코로나 바이러스 감염증으로 지지부진한라고 덧붙였다. 관계자는 “현재 마스터플랜이나 프