Positive Sign for Export Recovery

The decreasing trend in the sum of L/Cs (Letter of Credit) being issued started to slow at the end of 1998. The total amount of L/Cs issued can be an accurate barometer to predict the amount of exports in the near future. In light of the improvement, exports are expected to recover, though slowly, during the first half of this year.
The Bank of Korea(BOK) revealed on January 19 that the total sum of L/Cs fell by only 1.2 percent to 5.3 billion dollars for December 1998.
The downward rates for L/Cs in 1998 were 1.6 percent in May, 22.6 percent in June, 22.8 percent in July, 15.9 percent in August, 19.6 percent in September, 23.7 percent in October, and 15.0 percent in November.
The total sum of L/Cs recorded 5.7 billion dollars in March, the most in the year and continued to decrease recording 5.1 billion dollars in May, 4.5 billion dollars in July, 4.5 billion dollars in September, and 4.1 billion dollars in November.
Many experts predict that exports cannot grow rapidly due to the continuing economic crisis in Southeast Asia and Latin America.