S. Korea's consumer price growth remains flat in August, economy grows revised 1% q/q in Q2
- 5 years ago
8월 소비자물가동향 0.0% 성장...정부•한은 "디플레이션 우려할 상황 아니다"
South Korea's consumer price growth hit a record-low... remaining flat for the first time in August... compared to last year.
But the government and the central bank dismissed concerns over possible deflation.
Yoon Jung-min has our top story.
Statistics Korea announced on Tuesday that overall consumer prices remained unchanged in August compared to last year,... something that has never happened in all the months data have been collected since 1965.
In fact, the statistics agency said that with the rounding error, that amounts to a fall in prices.
Since January this year,... consumer inflation has stayed below 1 percent.
The data show it was held down by lower prices for agricultural and fishery products and oil.
In particular, agricultural goods fell some 11 percent on-year due to relatively stable weather conditions this summer.
Oil prices were down more than 6 percent... driven by a drop in prices internationally and a temporary tax cut on fuel.
"The longer that consumer inflation hovers around zero-percent, the worse it will be for the economy. There are growing concerns over deflation if this situation continues, but right now, we can describe it as quasi-deflation rather than full-scale deflation."
At an economic policy meeting on Tuesday, the finance ministry and the central bank said weak inflation data in recent months hasn't led to concerns about deflation just yet.
Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said low consumer prices come more from the supply side rather than from demand.
Bank of Korea's Senior Deputy Governor Yoon Myun-shik said low inflation has been seen widely across major economies since the global financial crisis.
On the same day, the Bank of Korea revised the country's GDP growth down to 1 percent compared the previous quarter to some 379 billion U.S. dollars.
The central bank mainly attributed the slow growth to sluggish exports and less government spending.
By sector, growth in agriculture and fisheries fell more than 3 percent,... while manufacturing grew slightly over 1 percent.
The central bank also said real gross national income for April to June increased by zero-point-2 percent on-quarter.
That figure was slightly up due mostly to an increase in GDP... despite a fall in exports.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.
South Korea's consumer price growth hit a record-low... remaining flat for the first time in August... compared to last year.
But the government and the central bank dismissed concerns over possible deflation.
Yoon Jung-min has our top story.
Statistics Korea announced on Tuesday that overall consumer prices remained unchanged in August compared to last year,... something that has never happened in all the months data have been collected since 1965.
In fact, the statistics agency said that with the rounding error, that amounts to a fall in prices.
Since January this year,... consumer inflation has stayed below 1 percent.
The data show it was held down by lower prices for agricultural and fishery products and oil.
In particular, agricultural goods fell some 11 percent on-year due to relatively stable weather conditions this summer.
Oil prices were down more than 6 percent... driven by a drop in prices internationally and a temporary tax cut on fuel.
"The longer that consumer inflation hovers around zero-percent, the worse it will be for the economy. There are growing concerns over deflation if this situation continues, but right now, we can describe it as quasi-deflation rather than full-scale deflation."
At an economic policy meeting on Tuesday, the finance ministry and the central bank said weak inflation data in recent months hasn't led to concerns about deflation just yet.
Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said low consumer prices come more from the supply side rather than from demand.
Bank of Korea's Senior Deputy Governor Yoon Myun-shik said low inflation has been seen widely across major economies since the global financial crisis.
On the same day, the Bank of Korea revised the country's GDP growth down to 1 percent compared the previous quarter to some 379 billion U.S. dollars.
The central bank mainly attributed the slow growth to sluggish exports and less government spending.
By sector, growth in agriculture and fisheries fell more than 3 percent,... while manufacturing grew slightly over 1 percent.
The central bank also said real gross national income for April to June increased by zero-point-2 percent on-quarter.
That figure was slightly up due mostly to an increase in GDP... despite a fall in exports.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.