BOK Chief Says Surplus This Year to Match 2000's

Chon Chol-hwan, the governor of the Bank of Korea, said Friday that this year's current account surplus would be about the same as last year's, or $11 billion. He also said that the government's inflation-containment and economic growth goals may be off the mark.

The central bank had forecast that the current account would run a surplus of $8 million this year. But at a meeting in Seoul of the Asian Pacific Bankers Club, Mr. Chon said that "the country is doing well by attaining a current account surplus of $1.5 billion during the first two months of the year." He said the risk of a drop in exports still remains, due to business slumps in other industrialized countries, but that the slowdown in imports would be steeper than in exports, due to stabilized international oil prices.

On inflation, Mr. Chon pointed out that retail prices rose by well over 4 percent in the first quarter. "And because of price increases in utilities and the weak value of the won, this year's inflation may surpass the bank's 4-percent target," he said.

The governor said that economic growth this year would fall short of the bank's 5.3- percent projection, but assuming the global slump does not worsen, the economy would begin to pick up again in the second half of this year.

by Cheong Chul-gun