The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
A decline in South Korean exports worsened in January despite signs of green shoots in global trade as the Lunar New Year holiday reduced the number of working days at the end of the month.
Exports shrank 6.1% from a year earlier, following a 5.2% drop in December, trade ministry data showed on Saturday. Economists had forecast an 8.6% decline. Shipments of semic-
onductors, the country’s biggest export, contracted 3.4%, the smallest decrease since a 8.4% drop in December 2018.
The trade report may appear to contradict signs of a manufacturing rebound, but the Lunar New Year is making the data look worse than they really are. The holiday was in late January this year after falling in February last year, cutting the business calendar by 2.5 days and skewing year-on-year comparisons.
South Korea is a barometer of global trade as it’s the world’s biggest source of memory chips, which go into everything from computers to smartphones.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) stood pat on policy in January after cutting rates twice last year. The economy grew 2% in 2019, the slowest pace since the global financial crisis, but momentum improved in the fourth quarter.
The BOK forecasts 2.3% growth for this year.The government plans to front-load its spending this year to speed up an economic recovery.