S. Korea eyes support for local companies in global infrastructure markets

SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will provide financial support worth 1 trillion won (US$864 million) to local firms seeking to make inroads into global infrastructure markets, a senior finance ministry official said Friday.

Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom said the government will ask state-run financial institutions, including the Export-Import Bank of Korea, to offer such support this year.

The government will also help local firms win infrastructure orders by providing financial help, Kim told a meeting of senior economic officials.

South Korea will start swiftly implementing its 2020 budget early this year to support the slowing economy, Kim said.

According to the ministry, 71.4 percent of the state budget, which covers welfare and other fiscal spending, will be front-loaded for use during the January-June period.

The nation's economy is expected to grow 2.4 percent this year, following last year's estimated 2 percent expansion, on the back of an anticipated recovery in the memory chip sector and a series of policy measures.

Hit by a lengthy U.S.-China trade war and a cyclical slump in the memory chip sector, Korea's economy is poised to report its weakest annual growth in a decade last year.

As part of the government's initiative to boost the economy through investment, state-run institutions will expand next year's investment to 60 trillion won from 55 trillion won for this year.

kdh@yna.co.kr
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