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WRAPUP 1-S.Korea aims for more jobs, another rate cut seen
Reuters - Wednesday, January 7
By Yoo Choonsik
SEOUL, Jan 6 - South Korea said on Tuesday it would create 140,000 more jobs this year to help stave off a possible recession as exports shrink and banks refuse to boost lending to smaller firms which employ the bulk of the workforce.
The presidential office, the Blue House, started an "economic war room" to more closely monitor the economy and financial markets which have slumped under the impact of the global economic downturn.
To help, the government announced it would invest 50 trillion won over the next four years in major infrastructure and environment projects to revive growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy which by the more optimistic forecasts will be lucky to manage 2 percent growth this year after an estimated 3.7 percent in 2008.
That should lead to 960,000 new jobs, 140,000 of them this year when economic growth is likely to be the slowest since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. [ID:nSEU000133]
Economists polled by Reuters said that in the face of weak economic growth, the central bank has little choice but to cut its benchmark interest rate again -- probably by 50 basis points -- at Friday's monthly policy meeting after December's record one percentage point cut. [ID:nSEO2182]
The Bank of Korea sent a strong signal on Sunday when it said it would use its interest rate policy to help boost the faltering economy and improve fund flows through the local financial system. [ID:nSEO337753]
FURTHER MONETARY EASING
With unprecedented rate cuts totalling 225 basis points since October doing little to ease the persistent credit crunch in the corporate sector or bolster flagging domestic demand, the central bank will likely resort to further policy easing, analysts said.
"Given the clear policy direction outlined earlier and latest bleak economic indicators, the central bank will likely continue to slash rates for a few more months," said Kwon Goo-hoon, an economist at Goldman Sachs.
There were signs of a return of some confidence with foreign net buying of shares continuing for the fifth straight day, the longest stretch of net buying since April 2007.
But some share analysts said it may be short-lived as corporate profits weaken further. [ID:nSEO310126]
And the central bank warned that banks were unlikely to meet the increasing demand for loans in the first quarter of the year because of fears over worsening credit quality.
It said South Korean banks consider the credit risk posed by small and medium companies -- which account by about 90 percent of jobs in South Korea -- to be the highest on record. [ID:nSEW000034]
In a relief for the government, desperate to push through a raft of new laws to make the economy more competitive, opposition lawmakers said they would end their sit-ins that have blocked any new legislation and allow passage of less contentious measures.
The opposition has paralysed parliament for about three weeks by occupying the main chamber and other facilities to block votes on bills including reforms the ruling party says are needed to help the export-driven economy steer through the global financial crisis.
"We expect our decision to lead to the normalisation of parliament," Chung Se-kyun, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, told a news conference. [ID:nSP417259] (Additional reporting by Cheon Jong-woo and Kim Junghyun; Writing by Jonathan Thatcher; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
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