Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Navigation
Primary Navigation
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Secondary Navigation
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Search
Search:
SKorea cuts key interest rate, warns of slowing growth
AFP - 2 hours 40 minutes ago
SEOUL (AFP) - - South Korea's central bank cut its key interest rate Friday for the third time in a month, saying the economy is slowing down sooner than expected amid global financial turmoil.
The Bank of Korea reduced the benchmark seven-day repo rate for November by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.0 percent, with one analyst suggesting further cuts could be made soon.
On October 27 the bank had announced its largest-ever interest rate cut of 75 basis points, following a 25 basis points reduction on October 9.
South Korea is trying hard to stimulate sluggish domestic demand because of a likely slowdown in its crucial export sector amid international economic gloom.
On Monday the government announced a 10.7 billion dollar stimulus plan.
"The growth of the Korean economy is expected to sharply cool as financial market jitters are affecting the real economy," the central bank said in a statement.
Its chief Lee Seong-Tae said growth has been slowing faster than expected.
"Since the export outlook is expected to be bad along with domestic demand, so economic growth could show a considerable slowdown (at least) until the first half of next year," he told a press conference.
The economy grew 0.6 percent quarter-on-quarter in July to September, the slowest growth in four years.
Households and smaller firms struggling with mounting debt have increasingly been cutting spending.
A currency swap agreement reached with the United States Federal Reserve last week has eased downward pressure on the won and given the central bank more scope for interest rate cuts.
The won has lost around a third of its value against the dollar this year and is Asia's worst-performing major currency. But it has lately been supported by the swap deal.
"The central bank may reduce the rate to 3.25 percent until the first half of 2009, given cooling economic growth," said Lee Sung-Kwon, an economist at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities.
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
Recommend this article
Average (0 votes)
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
Related Articles: China's Economy
SKorea cuts key interest rate, warns of slowing growthAFP - 2 hours 40 minutes ago
Vanishing jobs, stressed consumers feed downturnAP - 2 hours 43 minutes ago
HIGHLIGHTS-S.Korea cuts rates again to protect economyReuters - Friday, November 7
Global slowdown hits trade at China export fair: reportAFP - Friday, November 7
Related Articles: Business
ADB says slowdown could turn into global recessionAP - 1 hour 43 minutes ago
China defends efforts to protect intellectual property rightsAFP - 1 hour 46 minutes ago
Japan Airlines' quarterly profit risesAP - 1 hour 54 minutes ago
China gives Agricultural Bank $19 billion bailoutAP - 1 hour 57 minutes ago
Bank of Korea cuts key interest rate to 4 percentAP - 1 hour 59 minutes ago
Related Full Coverage
China Economy
china economy
All Full Coverage
Most Popular – Business
Viewed
Among Obama's next challenges: his own security
IMF sees recession in advanced economies in 2009
ECB, Bank of England slash interest rates
Obama's grandmother, family 'rock', dies on election eve
World stocks plunge on rising recession fears
View Complete List »
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology