| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
S. Korean trade deficit jumps
SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) -- South Korea's trade deficit nearly quadrupled in February from a month earlier as imports soared on higher oil prices and exports were dented by a sluggish global semiconductor industry, the Commerce Ministry said on Saturday. The provisional deficit of $317 million for February marked the second consecutive monthly deficit as oil prices jumped to 12-year peaks near $40 a barrel. Oil price hikes would push imports "sharply" higher in coming months, the ministry said in a statement, adding however, that a pick-up in exports at the end of the first quarter should improve the trade balance in March. "But as long as international oil prices are not stable, we cannot be optimistic about a shift to a trade surplus." South Korea, the world's fourth-biggest oil importer, depends wholly on crude oil imports mostly from the Middle East. To cushion the country as oil prices rise amid the threat of war in Iraq, the government has introduced steps to save energy, including curbing the use of passenger cars and switching off some street lights. The trade balance of Asia's fourth-biggest economy swung to a deficit of $87 million in January, the first shortfall in three years. Imports rose 32 percent from a year earlier to $13.8 billion in February, the biggest percentage rise in 29 months. "The main reason for the sharp increase in imports was attributed to a rise in energy costs by $900 million, compared with the same month last year, due to oil price increases in the wake of instability in the Middle East situation," the ministry said. February exports climbed 22.5 percent on the year to $13.5 billion, their lowest value since July 2002, as falling chip prices took a toll on shipments of semiconductor products, South Korea's largest single export. Shipments of wireless telecom devices, however, leapt 63.4 percent last month to $1.35 billion from a year earlier, and automobile exports jumped 35.3 percent to $1.25 billion. Analysts expected a strengthening won to pose another threat to exports, raising pressure on the new cabinet to take steps to meet its 2003 economic growth target of around five percent amid sagging domestic spending. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
