Finance minister expects exports to top $1 tril. this year
Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il speaks during an emergency economic meeting at Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District, Thursdsay. Yonhap
Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday that the country's annual exports are likely to top the historic $1 trillion mark this year despite unfavorable external conditions, such as the Middle East crisis.
"Despite the Middle East war and other unfavorable external conditions, the economy is on a solid growth track, and this year's economic growth is likely to be in the 3 percent range," Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said in an emergency economic meeting,
The minister said economic policies will be focused on boosting people's livelihood, stabilizing inflation and narrowing the income divide.
His comments came as Korea's exports soared 83.5 percent on-year to a record $120.9 billion in September, driven by a surge in chip shipments.
Semiconductor exports exceeded $60 billion for the first time ever last month, boosting overall export figures, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said.
In the first nine months of the year, the country's exports stood at $814.5 billion, already surpassing last year's outbound shipments of $709.3 billion in total.