Friday, November 13, 2009
South Korean Economy Grew at an 11% Annual Rate in Q2
Former international merchant banker and Money Morning contributing author Martin Hutchinson notes that South Korea:
- Grew at an annual rate of 11% in the second quarter
- Will report a second-consecutive double-digit advance when it reports on Monday
- Korea’s current account balance once again shows a healthy surplus, and Fitch's said that a downgrade would be unnecessary, and that Korea could expect to run a budget surplus in 2011
- The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) is up 65% from its low point in December 2008
- Exports have recovered, largely due to surging demand from China
- "Korea’s government spending as a percentage of GDP is one of the lowest of the world’s most-affluent developed economies. That means it will be much less of a burden than on the Korean economy than will similar outlays in the higher-spending Japan, United States and European Union."
3 comments:
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This growth is due to China's stimulus. Korea is a very corpratist country. I was blessed to live there for 3 years and enjoyed almost every minute but their problems the "chae-bol" are many times worse than our problem with Goldman's. The Seoul property boom (esp in Gangnam, an affluent area of southern Seoul) is completely screwy. The ROK is a wonderful country, but when the Chinese bubble pops they're going to have some very hard times. I wish them the best.
ReplyDeleteOh, spelling. Should be "corporatist".
ReplyDeleteAnyways, here is an article on the business climate in the ROK:
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/10/16/200910160052.asp
When speaking about Korea one must remember one important fact, when the rest of the worlds real estate bubble's popped, Korea's didn't. Real estate prices have instead continued to grow and are already far above what any average person could afford. It is likely that when China's bubble pops, it's going to take Korea's with it.
ReplyDelete