SEJONG -- The nation’s fiscal chief on Tuesday called for employers to refrain from excessively raising wages, stressing that a sharp pay raise could possibly fan consumer prices growth. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho expressed the worries during his meeting with business leaders, including Korea Enterprises Federation and CJ Group Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, in Seoul. “There have been drastic pay raises in the information technology-oriented firms and some

SEJONG -- Economic policymakers on Friday said they would ramp up pressure on gas stations in a bid to ease inflationary pressure from surging energy costs, as soon as an expanded fuel tax cut goes into effect next week. The government announced last week that it would further increase tax cuts on fuel consumption from the current 30 percent to 37 percent, the maximum legal cap. “In consultation with the oil refinery industry, (the government) plans to induce a cut in supply prices for g

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration on Tuesday unveiled the first batch of its real estate measures that offer lowering tax burdens for first-time homeowners and expanding tax deductions for tenants, taking the first step to realize its campaign pledge to “normalize” the housing market. The government will come up with detailed measures for the supply of 2.5 million homes and more no later than August.　 At a joint briefing, First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance Bang Ki

SEJONG -- South Korea will embark on discussions and debates on extending the retirement age from the current 60, under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s economic policy approach to cope with workforce shortages caused by demographic change. In a comprehensive plan on the economy unveiled last week, the government said it would foster a “task force to take countermeasures against workforce shortages,” which will comprise relevant ministries, think tanks and private researcher

SEJONG -- South Korea far outstripped the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the ratio of inheritance and gift tax revenues to gross domestic product, a local think tank said Friday. In a report, the Korea Economic Research Institute said Korea posted 0.5 percent in the ratio of revenue from inheritance and gift tax to GDP, which placed the nation at No. 3 among the OECD members as of 2020. While the institute said the level was higher by 0.3 percentage poi

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration on Thursday unveiled a five-year plan to pursue a business-friendly and market-oriented economy by carrying out intensive deregulatory measures and alleviating the corporate tax burden. In a major shift from the previous administration‘s liberal agenda of an income-driven economy, the new government also vowed to minimize state intervention in the market. In addition, the plan includes a series of reforms, such as restructuring the national pensi

SEJONG -- The number of people employed in South Korea increased by more than 900,000 in May from a year earlier, which marked the largest job increase in 22 years for that month. But figures showed that men in their 60s or older made up more than 30 percent (32.4 percent) of the total increase, state data showed Wednesday. According to Statistics Korea, the number of jobs came to 28.48 million as of last month, up 935,000 on-year. This posted the largest growth since May 2000, when an increas

SEJONG -- South Korea’s trade deficit, posted over the past five months on a cumulative basis, expanded during the first 10 days of June due to a decline in exports as well as a spike in import prices of raw materials including crude. The nation’s exports fell more than 12 percent during the June 1-10 period, compared to the same period of 2021, while imports increased by more than 17 percent, state data showed Monday. Korea recorded a trade deficit of $5.59 billion for the first 1

SEJONG -- Gasoline prices in South Korea are likely to hit an all-time high in the coming weeks in the wake of another spike in international crude prices, with prices climbing for more than 30 consecutive days. According to the Korea National Oil Corp., the nation’s benchmark gasoline price reached 2,055.11 won ($1.62) per liter on Friday. After posting 1,931.86 won on May 6, its price tag rose for the 35th consecutive day. Some market insiders are issuing the possibility that the price

SEJONG -- The nation’s fiscal chief said Thursday that the Ministry of Economy and Finance will unveil the economic policy direction of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration next week, which highlights a full-fledged deregulation scheme for businesses as well as measures to tame inflation. At a ministerial meeting at the government complex, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho commented on the external uncertainty, which involves a slowdown in global economic recovery and p

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday forecasted that the growth of the South Korean economy would stay in the 2 percent range this year in the wake of the inflationary pressure and the prolonged war between Ukraine and Russia. Further, the France-based organization predicted that South Korea’s inflation would reach an upper 4 percent range this year. In its latest world economic outlook report, the OECD revised down its prediction on the gross domestic

SEJONG -- The nation’s high inflation, which has led to a spike in consumer prices since the latter half of 2021, is weakening the purchasing power of households in the low-income bracket, as they spend a large portion of their monthly disposable income on daily necessities, state data showed Tuesday. According to the Finance Ministry and Statistics Korea, households which belong to the bottom 20 percent in terms of income level spent an average 42.2 percent of their monthly disposable in

SEJONG -- Korea’s inflation surpassed 5 percent on-year last month in the wake of an ongoing glitch in global supply and rapid growth in domestic demand amid normalization from the pandemic, state data showed Friday. According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices climbed 5.4 percent in May compared to a year earlier. This posted the highest figure in more than 13 years, dating to August 2008, when 5.6 percent growth in prices was reported. This also marked the first time that on-year inf

SEJONG -- South Korea’s fiscal chief on Thursday called on businesses to refrain from raising product prices and wages amid lingering fears of rising inflation. The comments from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho came during his meeting with heads of the nation’s six business lobby groups in Seoul. “Given that hikes in price tags and wages could bring about a vicious circle in inflationary pressure, (the government would like to ask you) to internally

 SEJONG -- South Korea posted a trade deficit for the second consecutive month in the wake of spiraling import prices of raw materials, despite its brisk outbound shipments. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the nation’s exports increased by 21.5 percent on-year to record $61.5 billion in May. This marked the second-highest in history, behind the $63.8 billion posted in March this year. This was an all-time high performance since the nation started compiling t

SEJONG -- South Korea suffered a “triple” decline in industrial output, consumption and investment in April amid expanded economic uncertainty from global inflationary pressure and a glitch in supply, state data showed Tuesday. According to Statistics Korea, industrial output decreased by 0.7 percent in April on-month, private consumption (also called retail sales) by 0.2 percent and facilities investment by 7.5 percent. This marked the first simultaneous decline in the three secto

SEJONG -- The government on Monday unveiled a package to the improve living conditions of households suffering from a spike in consumer prices, by slashing their expenditure burden for commodities and housing. A batch of countermeasures -- which are likely to cost about 3.1 trillion won ($2.5 billion) in state funds -- against the high inflation rate were confirmed during a meeting of economy-related ministers, presided by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho in Seoul. A co

SEJONG -- The nation’s fiscal chief has expressed his willingness to enact drastic deregulations and introduce innovations into the financial services sector during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Friday that the government “would eliminate unnecessary and excessive regulations in the financial sector drastically, with the exception of (regulations) for financial soundness and protection of (financial) consumers.”

SEJONG -- The government has mapped out a measure to address the mounting deficit of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp., which posted an all-time high operating loss of 7.7 trillion won ($6.1 billion) in the first quarter of the year. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Tuesday that it would place a cap on the “system marginal price,” the price KEPCO pays when purchasing power from private power generation companies. The cap would be placed temporarily whenev

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is considering easing the comprehensive real estate tax rate for home owners holding a single unit to a considerable extent, starting this year. According to officials at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the government is moving to scale back their tax burden to the level in 2020. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho was quoted by local media on May 12 saying that, “(taxpayers) have shouldered a three or four-fold burden