S.Korea’s import posts fastest monthly growth

South Korea’s import volumes posted their fastest monthly growth in nearly two years last month, indicating expectations of economic recovery in the near future, central bank data showed on Monday. The import volume index stood at 124.58 in August, up 7.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. It marked the fastest increase since December 2014. Import volumes of general machinery jumped 22.7 percent, with those for chemical products gaining 18.9 percent. Imports of primary metals and textile goods grew 10.8 percent and 9.2 percent respectively.