SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) — South Korea achieved a relatively good defense in economic record this year compared to other Western countries, getting through the global COVID-19 crisis with smaller costs.
The country’s real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, contracted 1.3 percent in the January-March quarter from three months earlier, before tumbling 3.2 percent during the April-June quarter.
The second-quarter result was the best among key economies, including members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD), except for China.
According to Bank of Korea (BOK) data, the real GDPs of Japan, the United States and Germany plunged 7.9 percent, 9.1 percent and 9.7 percent each, with Britain’s real GDP dropping 20.4 percent in the second quarter on a quarterly basis.
South Korea’s real GDP advanced 2.1 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter thanks to a 16.0 percent turnaround in export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy.
Local exporters benefitted from a partial recovery in global demand in the third quarter as factories in key economies failed to operate normally during the first half amid the rigid shutdowns to contain the virus spread.
South Korea’s decision to offer government relief grants to all households contributed to boosting domestic demand.
The handout was given on condition of being spent within three months, helping increase liquidity being circulated in every corner of the country and expand the revenue of microbusiness owners and the self-employed.
In late November, the BOK expected the country’s real GDP to contract 1.1 percent in 2020. It was higher than the previous forecast of 1.3 percent contraction as the bank estimated that the worst had passed by for the economy.
The relatively good economic record was achieved with smaller fiscal costs. According to the OECD data announced earlier this month, South Korea’s fiscal deficit for 2020 was estimated at 4.2 percent of its GDP.
It was the fourth-lowest among 42 major economies, behind Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The estimates for the United States, Britain and Japan reached 15.4 percent, 16.7 percent and 10.5 percent respectively.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s fiscal monitor report in October, the fiscal deficit-to-GDP ratio for South Korea was estimated at 3.7 percent in 2020, far lower than 16.7 percent for the United States, 15.5 percent for Britain and 13.9 percent for Japan each.
Because of the COVID-19 resurgence here since November, worry emerged over a potential negative impact on the economy that may go beyond this year into the first quarter of next year.
The country’s daily number of COVID-19 infections hovered around 1,000 for the past weeks, staying above 100 for more than seven weeks as of Monday.
The BOK forecast that the real GDP would rebound 3.0 percent in 2021, while the Ministry of Economy and Finance expected it to expand 3.2 percent next year. Those were higher than growth estimates of 2.9 percent from the IMF and 2.8 percent from the OECD each. Enditem
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.
In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.
The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.
Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.
In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.
The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.
The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.
Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
