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WRAPUP 3-S.Korea cuts rates to record low, more to come
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Reuters - Friday, February 13
* Bank of Korea cuts rates for sixth time to record low
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* Base rate seen reaching bottom in coming months
* Companies plan 30 percent cut in capital investment
* Government unveils $37 billion support for smaller firms
By Seo Eun-kyung
SEOUL, Feb 12 - South Korea's central bank slashed interest rates for the sixth time in four months on Thursday to a record low of 2.0 percent and suggested it would cut further to help an economy sliding into recession.
The president approved plans to keep credit lines open to smaller firms and the finance ministry offered tax cuts on new homes in the latest efforts to fight off the global financial crisis that has already pushed job losses in the export-reliant economy to a five-year high.
The central bank, which acknowledged for the first time that the economy could shrink this year, said it would monitor the affects of its unprecedented rate cutting spree totalling 3.25 percentage points since October, but could still cut further.
"Further interest rate adjustments depend on how financial markets and other sectors respond to the recent rate policy. Overall, we are open to further adjustments," Bank of Korea Governor Lee Seong-tae told reporters.
For a graph of South Korea's base rate, double-click: https://customers.reuters.com/d/graphics/KR_RTS0209.gif
Bond prices initially rose on the prospects of more rate cuts but closed lower as investors worried about rising government bond sales to fund its stimulus packages. [ID:nSEO308834]
Currency and stocks also fell, focusing on Lee's prognosis that the economy would shrink in 2009 for the first time since the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis, a sharp swing from the central bank's official forecast of 2 percent growth. [.KS] [KRW/]
Thursday's half a percentage point cut was anticipated by markets. But analysts say that after cutting the base rate from a record high in October of 5.25 percent to the current level, the potential for deeper cuts is now limited.
CREDIT SUPPORT
Analysts expect the Bank of Korea to cut the base rate to around 1.5 percent in coming months before turning to other ways to supply easy money, such simply printing cash or buying government bonds. [ID:nSEO332231]
"Beyond 2 percent, we see only limited room for aggressive cuts because there are still concerns over exchange rate volatility," said Frederic Neumann at HSBC in Hong Kong.
"We also expect much more unconventional measures to be rolled out by the central bank because even though they cut the policy rate that ... has not fed through to the wider economy yet."
In addition to rate cuts, authorities so far have pledged around $100 billion to stimulate the economy, provided debt guarantees to keep credit flowing and offered to buy up assets to free up cash for companies.
On Thursday, President Lee Myung-bak approved plans to offer about $37 billion in credit guarantees to small and medium-sized companies, a sector struggling to secure credit.
The Finance Ministry also said it would provide tax cuts on those buying new homes this year and selling them within five years, a move aimed at reducing the rising stock of new and unsold homes. [ID:nSEO357369]
Lee will meet Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun on Friday to share views on the economy and to see how they can cooperate, the central bank and the ministry said.
GLOOM
Reflective of the bleak outlook, a private survey by the country's top business lobby group showed companies would slash capital investment by 30 percent this year. [ID:nSEO311071]
On Wednesday, data showed the economy shed 103,000 jobs in January, the biggest drop in more than five years.
The deepening gloom prompted the finance ministry this week to say gross domestic product would fall around 2 percent in 2009, the first official forecast of contraction although private-sector analysts have been predicting for some weeks that the economy would shrink.
Governor Lee said the central bank was willing to join government efforts to lift the economy. He did not elaborate but analysts said buying government bonds from the market could be an option for the central bank to expand money supply.
The Finance Ministry plans to submit an additional budget bill to parliament to expand spending next month, which will most likely be funded by more bond sales. (Additional reporting by Cheon Jong-woo, Writing by Yoo Choonsik; Editing by)
 
 
 
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