By Jihoon Lee and Choonsik Yoo
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s government on Thursday promised to make efforts to boost exports and attract tourists as the statistics agency released a mixed set of data for January that showed gloomy prospects for the economy.
Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said at a meeting of officials the likelihood of a quick export recovery were limited but that government ministries would do their best to achieve a goal of averting a decline in exports.
He also said the government would make efforts to attract more foreign tourists, whose arrivals so far this year he said have recovered to some 40% of the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic started 2020.
The comments came as Statistics Korea data showed Asia’s fourth-largest economy could be headed for a recession with the cyclically adjusted coincident index falling in January for a fourth consecutive month.
Industrial output rose on the month but plunged on the year, while retail sales decreased for a third consecutive month, the data showed.
The trade-reliant economy contracted by an estimated 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from the previous quarter as exports collapsed.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee and Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Chris Reese and Sam Holmes)
