Andeokgeun, Head of Trade Headquarters, "Serious Trade Deficit... Full Effort on Energy Demand Management"

Anduk Geun, Head of Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, is delivering a greeting at the seminar titled "Is the Korea-US Economic Security Alliance Good as It Is? - Issues and Responses to the US Inflation Reduction Act," held on the 20th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Ahn Deok-geun, Head of the Trade Negotiations Division at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated on the 6th, "We plan to actively promote support measures to improve the trade balance."

At the 2nd Export Situation Review Meeting held at the Korea International Trade Association in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Ahn said, "The government is taking the recent slowdown in export growth and the ongoing trade deficit situation very seriously."

The trade balance has been in deficit for six consecutive months from April this year to last month. This is the first time in 25 years since January 1995 to May 1997 that a deficit has been recorded for more than six consecutive months.

Ahn noted, "Exports have increased for 23 consecutive months, but the growth rate has been in single digits for four months," adding, "Considering the global economic slowdown due to interest rate hikes in major countries and the continued high prices of crude oil, gas, and coal, the export-import conditions ahead will not be easy."

He continued, "Compared to the foreign exchange crisis, considering the proportion of trade deficit relative to trade volume and foreign exchange reserves, the situation is relatively favorable, but the government is taking the current situation seriously and plans to actively promote support measures."

This meeting was held following the first meeting on the 22nd of last month, with related trade agencies and 12 industry associations including semiconductors, automobiles, and shipbuilding attending to review the impact of changes in the global economic environment on exports and imports.

Ahn said, "We will steadily implement the 'Export Competitiveness Enhancement Strategy' announced in August, and closely manage export field difficulties collected through regional export site visits and the export situation room."

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to mobilize all policy measures such as energy saving and energy efficiency innovation to manage energy import demand, the main cause of the trade deficit. To this end, a nationwide energy-saving campaign will be launched, along with the phased normalization of energy prices.

Industry associations, considering demand weakening due to the global economic slowdown, expect that exports in the fourth quarter will find it difficult to maintain the high growth rate seen from January to September. They requested tailored support by industry and active responses to export risk factors such as the tightening policies of major countries.

Ahn said, "The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) has indicated additional interest rate hikes, and such tightening monetary policies may pose a burden on our exports," adding, "We intend to pool government-wide capabilities to provide full support and respond accordingly."

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