The nation’s economy has shown signs of losing growth momentum, as the rate slowed in the third quarter of last year among major countries, a report by an international economic body said Friday.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Korea’s economy rose 4.5 percent in the July-to-September period compared to the same quarter of the previous year to post the ninth highest growth rate among the 34 member nations.
Korea put up solid numbers in the year-on-year growth rate over the previous two quarters, as its economy gained 8.1 percent and 7.1 percent in the first and second quarters, respectively, to place second and third.
Chile topped the list with 7.1 percent, followed by Turkey at 6.9 percent and Sweden at 6.8 percent, according to the report.
Among major economies, Japan’s advanced sixth-best at 5.0 percent, while the United States saw 3.2 percent and Germany 3.9 percent.
Greece and Ireland, which both suffered in the European sovereign debt crisis, saw their economies shrink.
In the quarter-on-quarter comparison, the nation’s economy added 0.7 percent to fall to 14th place in the standings, the Paris-based organization said.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy ranked first in the first quarter after recording a 2.1 percent expansion and came in eighth at 1.4 percent in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Japan, whose economy has struggled for a long time, contrasted with Korea, providing a glimpse of strong economic recovery.
Japan also made the top 10 in quarter-to-quarter growth with a 1.1 percent gain, the seventh highest tally.
Analysts attributed the overall slowing economic recovery to the base effect of 2009’s better-than-expected performance, while other nations have come off the recent economic slump since the second half of last year.
“In the latter part of last year, the base effect of the nation’s rapid rebound in 2009 resulted in the economic recovery weakening,” said an official of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.
“But on the back of solid exports and rising domestic demand, the overall economy of Korea remains brisk.”
Earlier this week, the OECD announced that Korea is suffering the fastest economic slowdown among its members, as the country posted the sharpest drop in a month-on-month comparison of the composite leading index (CLI) in November.
Its leading indicator stood at 101.1 after declining 0.3 of a point from a month earlier and it marked the 11th straight month of contraction.
Korea’s import prices hit 22-month high in Dec.
The nation’s import prices made the biggest jump in 22 months in December, due to rising international raw material prices, the central bank said Friday.
According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), its index of imported goods expanded 12.7 percent last month from a year ago, marking the ninth straight month of price growth.
The reading is the largest year-on-year increase since February 2009, when it advanced 18 percent.
The BOK’s local currency-denominated index of imported goods and materials is widely used to gauge the country’s future inflation trend.
“The latest price increase came due to rocketing world costs for crude oil, iron ore and nonferrous metals like copper and nickel as well as farm produce including corn and raw sugar,” a BOK official said.
In a month-on-month comparison, the price index also soared 4.7 percent last month ― an 18 month high ― compared with a 2.1 percent rise in November, the BOK noted.
The annual import prices grew 5.3 percent last year from 2009, rebounding from a drop of 4.1 percent the previous year.
The bank added that the export price index moved up 4.3 percent last month from the previous year, but the annual index of export prices sank 2.6 percent in 2010 following a 0.2 percent drop in 2009.
Source: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr
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