"40 Million Eggs + α Additional Imports"... Government Continues to Block Inflation Concerns (Comprehensive)

Lee Okwon, 1st Vice Minister of Ministry of Economy and Finance
Implementing Customized Measures by Item
Managing Government Stockpiles of Rice and Cabbage

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The government has decided to import more than 40 million additional eggs this month.

Lee Eokwon, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, attended the Price-Related Vice Ministers' Meeting and Innovation Growth Strategy Review Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office on the 14th, stating, "Stabilizing agricultural and livestock product prices more quickly is very important in terms of overall price management," and emphasized, "We will actively implement customized measures for each item, such as increasing egg imports by more than 40 million in May."

According to the government, agricultural and livestock product prices have fallen for two consecutive months, with a 1.5% decrease in March and a 0.5% decrease in April compared to the previous month. However, prices are still higher than the average for this period.

In particular, egg prices have been slow to decline. According to the Agricultural and Fishery Products Distribution Information, the average retail price of one carton of eggs (30 special eggs) on the 13th was 7,374 won, about 50 won higher than a week earlier.

Vice Minister Lee drew a line regarding concerns about inflation. Referring to the 2% inflation rate forecast by the Korea Institute of Finance and the Korea Development Institute (KDI), he said, "It is expected that the inflation rate this year will not exceed 2%," and added, "The government will do its best to manage prices stably this year through early stabilization of agricultural and livestock product prices, responding to raw material price fluctuations, and managing public utility charges."

However, the possibility of a further increase in inflation cannot be ruled out as supply-side factors combined with base effects may expand the price rise. Eo Unseon, Director of Economic Trend Statistics at Statistics Korea, previously stated, "Agricultural and livestock supply and demand factors are expected to improve and are neutral, but oil price impacts could be significant," and added, "Downward pressure on prices is decreasing, but there is a subtle predominance of upward factors (rising trend) due to expectations of increased demand from economic recovery."

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