Lee: South Korea to maintain expansionary policies
SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said yesterday that the South Korean government will keep up its expansionary policy until the global economy makes a full recovery, saying the economy is "still in the middle of the tunnel."
In his parliamentary address, Lee reiterated that the South Korean government still needs some time to begin an exit strategy.
"Although the international community has been praising the way we are confronting the crisis, I can't say the crisis is over," Lee said in his speech.
"The South Korean economy still requires more time to make a full recovery in consumption, investment, and employment," Lee said, adding that the economy has yet to reach the end of a long tunnel.
According to the president, South Korea will launch an exit strategy after close consultation with advanced countries.
The remarks came amid the South Korean economy showing signs of improvement, such as nine-month-straight trade surplus, adding to market speculation that the government may end its expansionary macroeconomic policies at any time.
Also, South Korea has retrieved 56.1 percent of the public funds spent for financial companies that went bankrupt during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, the financial watchdog said yesterday.
According to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country has recovered $80 billion out of the total $142.6 billion public funds as of the end of August.
Xinhua
(China Daily 11/03/2009 page11)
