Gov’t waits to see if stimulus works

Korea has no additional fiscal measures to bolster the economy for some time as it needs more time to gauge the impact of the previously unveiled stimulus efforts, the country’s top economic policy maker said yesterday.

The remarks by Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan come days after the central bank slashed its key interest rate to 2.75 percent for October.

In September, the government unveiled fiscal support measures worth 4.6 trillion won ($4.13 billion) for this year and 1.3 trillion won for next year.

“There is no additional macroeconomic policy response,” Bahk told reporters after attending a meeting jointly held by the World Bank in Seoul. “We need to wait. Also, it has been just a few days since the central bank cut its interest rate.”

The central bank lowered the key rate to 2.75 percent last week.

Bahk hinted that the government has no plans to revise down its growth outlook for this year, which stands at 3.3 percent, though the government’s views are in line with the recent move by the central bank to revise its own projection from 3 percent to 2.4 percent.

“In the broad direction, our views are not different with those of the Bank of Korea,” he said.

The minister, however, said that the government will not likely modify its outlooks as it has done it already twice this year.

Yonhap