President Moon: "Positive Indicators of Our Economy Continue to Rise... Over 2% Growth Expected This Year"

On the 14th, citizens are watching the live broadcast of President Moon Jae-in's New Year's press conference in the waiting room of Seoul Station, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] President Moon Jae-in stated that positive indicators in our economy continue to increase and forecasted that the growth rate will exceed 2% this year.

At a New Year's press conference held on the 14th at the Blue House State Guest House under the theme "Certain Change, Republic of Korea 2020," President Moon responded to questions about macroeconomic plans and goals by saying, "What is clear is that negative indicators in our economy are gradually decreasing while positive indicators are steadily increasing."

He said, "In my previous New Year's address, I spoke about our economic situation, and when I say something positive about the economy, I am sometimes criticized for not fully understanding the difficulties of the real economy and being too complacent. However, as you know, our economic indicators always show a mix of positive and negative signs. I may have emphasized more positive indicators in the New Year's address, but everything I said was factual," he emphasized.

He continued, "I may not have mentioned negative indicators, but at least what I said is true. If there is anything untrue, I would like to ask for it to be pointed out," he added.

President Moon said, "The outlook that our economy is improving is consistent both domestically and internationally. Last year, we grew by about 2%, and I think estimates will be released around the second half of this month, but the government believes it will be around 2%. Although this growth is much lower compared to our past economic growth, among the global 30-50 club countries, we rank second after the United States," he emphasized.

He predicted that the growth rate this year will be higher than last year. President Moon said, "International economic organizations and various Korean economic research institutes, including the Bank of Korea, analyze that the growth rate will be higher than that. In fact, starting around December last year, signs of export improvement have appeared, and exports from January 1 to January 10 this month increased by 5.3% for the first time in a while," he said.

He added, "The stock market has also started the year on a positive note. The rise in stock prices ultimately reflects the future value of companies, meaning that foreign and domestic investors are viewing corporate prospects more optimistically. The government will do its utmost to ensure that the improving macroeconomic conditions translate into real improvements in people's lives," he said.

Regarding innovation-related issues such as 'Tada,' he said, "For regulatory innovation, we are moving faster than any other country through regulatory sandboxes and regulatory free zones, and we are actually achieving many results. However, issues like the social conflicts between new and old businesses, such as the Tada issue, have not yet been resolved. I believe that social compromise bodies to discuss such issues need to be established on a case-by-case basis," he stated.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.