[Economic Outlook] Economic Ministries' 2020 Cheongwadae Work Report Highlights

Moon Jae-in Administration's Task to 'Alleviate Polarization' Gauged by
Statistics Korea's 2019 4Q Household Trends Survey Also in Focus

Producer Prices and Export-Import Trends from February 1-20 Also Revealed

President Moon Jae-in speaking at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs briefing held at the Blue House on the afternoon of the 11th. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Next week, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and other economic departments will report this year's work to President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Financial Services Commission, and others are expected to present measures to overcome the anxiety caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and to recover the economy through the Blue House work report on the 17th.

The Statistics Korea will announce the results of the household trend survey (income section) for the fourth quarter of last year on the 20th. This is an indicator to gauge how far the Moon Jae-in administration's core task of 'resolving polarization' has progressed.

Household income disparity in the third quarter of last year narrowed for the first time in four years based on the same quarter. The income of the bottom 20% (1st quintile) households increased at the largest rate in seven quarters, rising for two consecutive quarters, while the income of the top 20% (5th quintile) households showed only a slight increase.

However, as the self-employed business conditions worsened, business income among total household income decreased the most since statistics began to be compiled in 2003.

The Bank of Korea will announce the producer price index for January on the 20th. The producer price index in December last year rose by 0.3% compared to the previous month. The rate of change shifted from negative (-) in November last year to positive (+).

Attention is also focused on the export-import status for the 1st to 20th of this month, which the Korea Customs Service will announce on the 21st. Exports from the 1st to 10th, announced on the 11th, amounted to 10.7 billion dollars, a sharp increase of 69.4% compared to the same period last year, but on a daily basis, it decreased by 3.2%.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy predicted that total exports in February will turn positive. The overall results for February will be announced on the 1st of next month.

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