KDI says local economy is showing signs of gradual slowdown
- 5 years ago
The state-run Korea Development Institute says the South Korean economy is showing signs of a gradual slowdown...mainly due to low domestic demand and slower export growth.
Ko Roon-hee has the details.
The Korean economy appears to be gradually slowing down, according to the Korea Development Institute on Monday.
The state-run think tank said in its monthly report that domestic demand remained weak due to sluggish investment.
Facilities investment in October went up by more than 9-percent on year...which marks a big jump from the previous month marked by a decline of nearly 20-percent.
However, the institute stressed that there were fewer working days in September due to the major national holiday of Chuseok falling in that month, which was celebrated over the span of 5 days, including 3 weekdays.
The overall situation remains grim,...as a series of leading indicators related to facilities investment remain stagnant.
For instance, orders for special industrial machineries decreased in October.
A researcher at the KDI says lower investment in the semiconductor sector is one of the main reasons for the downward trend.
"The growth rate of facilities investments was high last year, because the semiconductor boom led to an increase in investment in related industries. This year, however, the growth rate is low...because facilities investment was already complete."
Slowdown in consumption also contributed to low domestic demand.
Retail sales went up by 5-percent in October.
However, the KDI pointed out that average figures during September and October were lower than August,...meaning that the overall situation isn't looking great.
Another culprit for the local economy's slowdown was observed in exports.
Exports in November merely increased by 4-point-5 percent, which is significantly lower than the previous month's growth rate of almost 23-percent.
The drop in exports was mainly observed in semiconductors and petrochemical products.
Meanwhile, October's overall industry production grew by almost 7-percent on year, thanks to increased production in the mining, manufacturing and services industries.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.
Ko Roon-hee has the details.
The Korean economy appears to be gradually slowing down, according to the Korea Development Institute on Monday.
The state-run think tank said in its monthly report that domestic demand remained weak due to sluggish investment.
Facilities investment in October went up by more than 9-percent on year...which marks a big jump from the previous month marked by a decline of nearly 20-percent.
However, the institute stressed that there were fewer working days in September due to the major national holiday of Chuseok falling in that month, which was celebrated over the span of 5 days, including 3 weekdays.
The overall situation remains grim,...as a series of leading indicators related to facilities investment remain stagnant.
For instance, orders for special industrial machineries decreased in October.
A researcher at the KDI says lower investment in the semiconductor sector is one of the main reasons for the downward trend.
"The growth rate of facilities investments was high last year, because the semiconductor boom led to an increase in investment in related industries. This year, however, the growth rate is low...because facilities investment was already complete."
Slowdown in consumption also contributed to low domestic demand.
Retail sales went up by 5-percent in October.
However, the KDI pointed out that average figures during September and October were lower than August,...meaning that the overall situation isn't looking great.
Another culprit for the local economy's slowdown was observed in exports.
Exports in November merely increased by 4-point-5 percent, which is significantly lower than the previous month's growth rate of almost 23-percent.
The drop in exports was mainly observed in semiconductors and petrochemical products.
Meanwhile, October's overall industry production grew by almost 7-percent on year, thanks to increased production in the mining, manufacturing and services industries.
Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News.