The Bank of Korea has submitted a report to the National Assembly explaining the key economic issues, both domestic and global,... that should be taken into consideration in deciding policies.
Won Jung-hwan reports.
The Korean central bank has highlighted the trade dispute between Washington and Beijing, U.S. monetary policy, and Korea's domestic jobs market, as the main concerns for the South Korean economy.
In a report submitted at a parliamentary briefing on Friday... The Bank of Korea said the deepening trade dispute between the U.S. and China could harm the Korean economy.
Amid the rising tensions between its two main trading partners, Korea's exports have already edged down by 0-point-1 percent in June, marking the second fall in exports in 20 months.
The report also cites U.S. interest rates as one of the financial market variables.
Last month, the Fed raised its benchmark fund rate to between 1-point-75 percent and 2 percent and signaled it would raise rates twice more before the end of this year.
Despite the interest rate increases having a limited effect on the Korean economy so far, the upcoming U.S. rate hikes are leading to calls that the Korean central bank should do the same and raise its 1-point-5 percent rate in August or November.
The central bank also highlights the need for more measures to boost job creation.
Between January and June, an average of 142-thousand new jobs were added each month, the slowest growth since the 2008 global financial crisis.
But the report does forecast some recovery in the automobile and shipbuilding industries next year.
The BOK has recently lowered the country's annual growth rate for this year to 2-point-9 percent, down of 0-point-1 percent from the target 3 percent.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.