Consumer prices surge 4.1% in January

By Kang Seung-woo

The consumer price index again broke the 4 percent mark in January due to increasing food and energy prices, posing a threat to the nation’s economic recovery, a government report said Tuesday. The government has pledged to keep inflation in the 3-percent range.

Statistics Korea announced that the country’s consumer prices soared 4.1 percent last month from a year ago. The number is up from the 3.5 percent gain in December, and matching the 4.1 percent surge for October.

The government attributed the inclement weather conditions and the ongoing spread of animal disease to the surge.

“The prolonged cold spell, outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and rising oil prices contributed to the stronger-than-expected rise from the supply side,” said Yoon Jong-won, head of the finance ministry’s economic policy bureau.

“Farm product prices are not expected to stabilize until the end of the first quarter. But they should see some stability next month as supply shortage problems could ease somewhat,” he added.

According to the state-run agency, prices of fresh agricultural and food produce surged 30.2 percent from a year earlier with oil and energy costs gaining 10.9 percent.

Prices of cabbage and spring onion soared 151.7 percent and 108.2 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, while pork prices also rose 11.7 percent, mainly affected by the mass culling of pigs amid the rapid spread of FMD.

The latest inflation data came as the Bank of Korea (BOK) forecast last month that the country’s consumer prices would grow in the 4-percent range in the first quarter, affected by rising commodity costs and food prices. In addition, the central bank projected this year’s inflation rate will hit a three-year high of 3.5 percent, up from 2.9 percent in 2010, with its estimate for the first quarter of this year standing at 3.7 percent.

The government is seeking to keep inflation at around 3 percent this year.

Market watchers say that the growing inflationary pressure is likely to continue in the near future due to interior and exterior factors including an ongoing anti-government protest in Egypt.

“Oil prices as well as the cold wave and FMD have influenced inflation and they are expected to play an important role in the February data,” said Shin Suk-ha, a research fellow of the Korea Development Institute (KDI).

“The unrest in Egypt will cause a rise in global oil prices.”

The price of Dubai crude was traded at $94.57 per barrel on Monday, the highest level since Sept. 26 2008, when it was $95.76.

Although Egypt is not a big economy, the Suez Canal is an important oil shipping route, which carries around 2.4 million barrels of oil a day.

Meanwhile Asia’s fourth-largest economy, posted a trade surplus for the 12th straight month in January thanks to the largest-ever monthly exports, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

It said the country’s surplus reached $2.96 billion last month, compared with $4.08 billion in December, with exports soaring 46 percent to $44.89 billion and imports gaining 32.9 percent to $41.93 billion. The previous monthly record for exports was $44.14 billion in December.

소비자 물가 비상 1월 4%대

음식 에너지 가격 인상으로 1월 소비자 물가 상승률이 4%대로 뛰어올라 경기회복에 비상이 걸렸다. 정부는 소비자 물가 상승률을 3%대로 안정시키겠다고 말했다.

통계청은 1월 소비자 물가는 지난해 같은 달에 비해 4.1% 상승했다고 발표했다. 이는 지난해 10월 물가 상승률 4.1% 이후 가장 높은 수치다.

통계청은 물가 상승의 원인은 날씨와 구제역 확산 때문 등 이라고 밝혔다.

윤종원 기획재정부 경제정책국장은 "한파, 구제역, 국제유가 상승 등이 공급 측면에서 예상보다 큰 물가 상승을 이끌었다” 고 지적했다.