Hong Nam-ki "Downward pressure on the economy expected... Support measures for export companies to be prepared within this month" (Comprehensive)

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, is delivering opening remarks at the 'Economic Ministers' Meeting on Novel Coronavirus Response' held on the 3rd at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated on the 3rd regarding the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) that "if an early resolution is not achieved, it will act as a downward pressure on the economy."

On the same day, Hong held a meeting with related ministers at the Government Complex Seoul to respond to the novel coronavirus and said, "Although the impact of this incident on our economy is currently limited, it is difficult to predict the future development of the situation."

Hong emphasized, "The most important thing for the government now is to thoroughly prevent the spread of the virus without any casualties through strict quarantine measures and to end the situation early," adding, "We must also minimize the economic impact and maintain the momentum for economic recovery."

He forecasted, "This incident is likely to act as a factor slowing growth in the Chinese economy itself to some extent," and "In this case, it is highly possible that it will have a negative impact on the global economy overall, raising concerns about its effects on our economy."

He further stated, "The proportion of the Chinese economy in our economy has greatly expanded compared to the past," and "We will thoroughly analyze the impact on the Chinese and international economies by scenario and concentrate all capabilities on minimizing the impact on the domestic economy."

The government analyzed the impact of past infectious disease incidents such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) on the domestic economy in three ways: a decrease in inbound tourists, contraction of domestic demand due to reduced external activities, and export decline caused by contraction in domestic demand and production in the infected countries.

Hong said, "Separate response teams have been established by relevant ministries for sectors such as exports, food and lodging, tourism, transportation and logistics, small and medium enterprises, and self-employed businesses to grasp the actual situation on the ground," and added, "We will prepare export support measures focusing on resolving management difficulties and diversifying markets for export companies within this month."

The government also judged that there is no significant problem in the supply and demand of health masks for virus infection prevention and announced that it will monitor market disruption activities such as price hikes and unilateral transaction cancellations.

Hong stated, "Recently, due to the rapid increase in demand for masks and hand sanitizers, market disruption activities such as sudden price hikes and unilateral transaction cancellations have occurred, exacerbating public anxiety," and said, "The government will never tolerate market disruption activities that hold public safety hostage and will respond as strongly as possible."

He added, "We will consider measures such as the enactment of a notice prohibiting hoarding of masks (to be announced on the 6th of this month), administrative and criminal penalties for market disruption activities such as price-fixing, and emergency supply adjustment measures if serious mask supply instability occurs."

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