[Economic Outlook] Household Trend Survey Reflecting National Conditions, Housing Ownership Statistics Released

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] This week, the third-quarter household trend indicators, which include income and expenditure and provide an insight into the living conditions of the people, will be announced. The international investment position, reflecting South Korea's external debt situation, will also be disclosed.

According to Statistics Korea on the 15th, the results of the 'Third Quarter Household Trend Survey' will be announced on the 19th. Household trends are indicators that examine the income and expenditure of our people over a certain period.

Due to the unusually prolonged rainy season and heavy rains in the third quarter, as well as the second wave of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), it is expected that there were repercussions on the lives of our people. Although the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rebounded by 1.9% compared to the previous quarter, the social distancing level was raised to 2.5, which is expected to have caused aftereffects.

Before the announcement of the household trend survey, on the 17th, Statistics Korea will release the 2019 housing ownership statistics. This is a statistic using administrative data such as official housing prices, building registers, and property tax data, as well as population, household, and housing data from the Population and Housing Census, allowing confirmation of housing ownership status by age and region, and situations related to multiple homeowners.

The Bank of Korea will release the 'International Investment Position' as of the end of September on the 19th.

In the statistics as of the end of June, the ratio of short-term external debt to reserve assets (37.6%) and the proportion of short-term external debt in total external debt (30.7%) both slightly increased compared to the end of March. However, the government and the Bank of Korea analyze that the soundness of external debt is good compared to past crises. Attention is focused on whether this external debt soundness was maintained in the third quarter as well.

Meanwhile, financial authorities will begin full discussions next week on the fund transfer plan related to the Optimus Asset Management incident.

The Financial Supervisory Service holds the position that the assets of Optimus Asset Management, suspected of a 500 billion won fund fraud, should be transferred to NH Investment & Securities, the largest distributor, to efficiently recover the assets. On the other hand, NH Investment & Securities is hesitant due to concerns that it may bear responsibility for the fund fraud case. The Financial Supervisory Service plans to operate a price adjustment consultative body from the 18th, involving distributors, administrative managers, trustees, and accounting firms, and to prepare a fund transfer plan through this consultative body.

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