[Economic Outlook] Disaster Relief Fund Outline... Focus on Rising Interest Rates at Financial Institutions

Disaster Relief Fund to Be Announced Soon... Attention on Economic Policy Direction for the Second Half of the Year

On the 25th, the '2021 Second Half Economic Policy Direction Party-Government Consultation' was held at the National Assembly. Key attendees, including Yoon Ho-jung, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Hong Nam-ki, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economy, are taking a commemorative photo before the meeting begins.
Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Next week, plans for the second supplementary budget (supplementary budget) are expected to be announced. Attention is focused on whether it will be targeted at the entire population or exclude certain high-income groups. The government has argued for targeting the bottom 70% income group, while the ruling party insists on payments to the entire population.

The Democratic Party and the government held a party-government consultation at the National Assembly on the 25th to discuss the recipients of the disaster relief funds.

At that time, Yoo Dong-su, Senior Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, said, "We would prefer to include the entire population, but Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki is very firm," adding, "It will be finalized next week after discussions at the high-level party-government-office meeting."

Early next week, the government will review the Korean economy for the second half of this year and announce corresponding economic policy directions. It is expected to revise forecasts for this year's growth rate, inflation, exports, and employment.

Statistics showing recent trends in financial institution interest rates will also be released. The Bank of Korea will publish the "Weighted Average Interest Rate of Financial Institutions for May" on the 30th.

In April, the overall household loan interest rate at deposit banks was 2.91%, up 0.03 percentage points from 2.88% in March. This is the highest level in 15 months since January last year when it was 2.95%. Meanwhile, the mortgage loan interest rate remained unchanged at 2.73% over the month.

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