S. Korea sees soft landing in real estate market: finance minister

General

South Korea’s real estate market is leaning toward a soft landing on the back of a slew of deregulations and revamped taxation rules, the country’s chief economic policymaker has said, amid woes over a crisis in the real estate project financing (PF) sector.

Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho made the remark during his meeting with James McCormack, a managing director at Fitch Ratings, in Washington on Wednesday (local time), pointing out that the authorities are also closely monitoring the market, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

During the meeting, Choo also said the South Korean economy is expected to gradually recover on the back of the reopening of China, along with the rebound of the semiconductor industry later this year.

In a separate meeting with Ilan Goldfajn, the head of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Choo vowed to increase the amount of the Korea Poverty Reduction Fund by US$20 million by 2028 to address social issues in Latin America.

The decision will raise the total amount of the fund, launched in 2005, to $90 million.

Choo also met his Polish counterpart, Magdalena Rzeczkowska, in Washington and expressed hope for stronger bilateral economic ties on the back of recent defense deals.

Last year, South Korean companies signed contracts with Poland to supply K2 tanks, K-9 self-propelled howitzers, FA-50 light attack aircraft, and Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers.

Source: Yonhap News Agency