S. Korean export decline seen slowing

SEOUL: South Korea’s exports are forecast to fall more slowly as improving shipments of electronics curb recent declines, the central bank said in a regular report yesterday.

Based on a survey of about 250 exporters across the country, the Bank of Korea (BoK) report assessed that shipments will improve across the IT, petrochemical, and oil refinery sectors in 2017, which will help offset declines in exports, which have fallen for most of the past two years.

While cancellation of Galaxy Note 7 from Samsung Electronics and strikes at Hyundai Motor have dented shipments from Asia’s fourth largest economy, the BoK said that manufacturing in general is forecast to improve.

Domestic demand will see a pick-up over the coming months, the bank added. – Reuters