The debt-servicing ability of South Koreans improved in the second quarter, reinforcing the case for an early interest rate increase, but the finance minister reaffirmed that it was too soon to lift borrowing costs. The financial assets of South Koreans rose nearly 6 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter to 1,825.5 trillion won ($1,498 billion), outpacing a 2 percent rise in financial debt to 818.4 trillion won, central bank data showed on Monday.
-- August exports to China set slowest annual loss in 10 months
-- Finance minister reaffirms rate rise premature
-- Central bank says globalisation complicates policy
It means they held financial assets worth 2.23 times their financial debt at the end of June, up from 2.16 times three months earlier and an all-time low of 2.09 at the end of December last year, Bank of Korea data showed. A series of indicators have already shown that Asia's fourth-largest economy is pulling out of the crisis ahead of its peers, raising speculation among investors that South Korea could be among the first G20 economies to begin raising interest rates.
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Seong-tae pounded domestic bond markets on Thursday by saying in an unexpectedly strong tone that the central bank was ready to raise interest rates if a property boom heated up, and even before other countries did so. Some analysts expect the Bank of Korea to start to raise interest rates from as early as November after confirming third-quarter economic growth performance, but the majority of analysts still projected rate increases from early 2010.
However, Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun said he still believed it was too soon to begin raising interest rates. "Yes, I believe so," Yoon said when asked by a lawmaker if he thought it was premature to raise interest rates. It was unclear whether he made the remark specifically in response to Governor Lee's comments on Thursday.
In another boost to the export-driven economy, revised customs agency data released on Monday showed South Korean exports to top market, China, fell 10.3 percent in August from a year earlier, the smallest decline since a 2.6 percent loss in October 2008. Meanwhile, the central bank governor said in a prepared speech for a conference that increasing volatility in global raw materials prices and rapid fund flows had complicated the environment for its inflation-targeting policy system.
The Bank of Korea is due to set a new inflation target soon for the coming years, with the current target of keeping annual average consumer price index growth between 2.5 and 3.5 percent for 2007-2009 expiring at the end of this year. It slashed the benchmark seven-day repurchase agreement rate by 3.25 percentage points over four months since last October and has since February held it steady at a record low of 2.0 percent. It next reviews the base rate on October 9.
Comments
Comments are closed.