By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
Individuals and businesses here will be allowed to take as much money as they want out of the country to purchase real estate overseas from next month. Foreign nationals residing in the country will also be able to take up to $50,000 abroad with them per year, up from the current $10,000.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance Thursday unveiled these and other measures, which will go into effect on June 2 to ease regulations on foreign exchange transactions and provide individuals and businesses with more opportunities for overseas investment.
The government said Koreans will be able to buy homes and other real estate properties in foreign countries worth more than $3 million. Currently, Korean's are only allowed to invest up to $3 million in overseas real estate for investment purposes.
The ceiling on property acquisition for residential purposes was lifted in March 2006 in a bid to facilitate the dollar outflow to curb the won's steep rise against the dollar and other currencies at the time and help boost outbound shipments.
The liberalization comes at a time when Koreans are increasingly reluctant to invest more in properties abroad because of the ongoing U.S. housing market slump and its ripple effects across the globe.
Local residents purchased homes and other properties in foreign countries worth $64 million last month, down from $136 million a year earlier.
The ceiling on the amount of money foreign residents can take out of Korea and spend abroad will be raised to $50,000 per year, a five-fold jump from the current ceiling.
The $10,000 cap has prevented local retail banks and other card firms from issuing credit cards that can be used overseas to foreign citizens. Many foreigners living here are complaining about difficulties in obtaining locally issued credit cards.
Also, companies will be able to manage up to $30 million in a joint account with their overseas affiliates, up from the current $10 million, as part of efforts to ease administrative and financial burdens on foreign exchange transactions between affiliated units at home and abroad.