Seoul eyes massive spending for infrastructure to revitalize economy
SEOUL, Aug 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's finance minister said Wednesday the government plans to spend a whopping 16.5 trillion won (US$13.5 billion) on social infrastructure projects this year, in a bid to revitalize the economy, which has been losing steam due to falling exports.
Government infrastructure spending over the July-December period is to include 5.1 trillion won on public housing projects and 5.2 trillion won on railroads, according to Hong Nam-ki, minister of economy and finance.
The announcement came amid rising concern that the South Korean economy is suffering a slowdown in the face of a sharp drop in exports.
Outbound shipments decreased 11 percent in July from a year earlier, extending their on-year fall to an eighth consecutive month.
Hong said the government will also invest around 100 billion won annually on research and development in areas such as the non-memory chip and next-generation automobile industries.
Such measures will help South Korea ease its technology dependency on Japan, which recently removed Seoul from its list of trusted trade partners.
colin@yna.co.kr
(END)
-
1 
Seoul-Tokyo ties tipped for deeper rift after Japan's expanded export control: experts
-
2 
Trade row with Japan, another headwind for Korean economy
-
3 
Japan hides true intentions, leaving export curbs unjustified
-
4 
Boycott of Japanese goods to intensify as Tokyo expands export curbs
-
5 
Japan's broader export curbs aim for S. Korea's Achilles heel
