The rapid increase in imports Inflation is exacerbated by the government's stimulus policy, and the World Bank has diagnosed the slow growth as a prolonged period with the growth rate halving this year compared to the previous year.
In May, Korea's imports ($63.2 billion) surged 32% compared to the previous year, surpassing exports ($61.5 billion).
The trade deficit was estimated at $2.5 billion in April and $1.7 billion in May, leading to a trade deficit of $15.8 billion this year, according to the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.
The US trade deficit in March reached an all-time high of $199.8 billion.
In a report (GEP) on the 7th, the World Bank (WB) reduced its global GDP growth forecast for this year to 2.9%, down 1.2%p from the January estimate of 4.1%. said to continue.
According to the World Bank report, which officially warned of stagflation in the 1970s, growth fell by half this year from 5.7% last year.
Developed countries are expected to drop further to 2.2% next year, from 5.1% last year to 2.6% this year, and in emerging and developing countries, their 6.6% growth last year plunged to 3.4% this year, 1.4% from the 2011-2019 CAGR of 4.8% before the pandemic. expected to decline.
The World Bank recommended a policy to contain the surge in oil and food prices as a response to the 1970s-style stagflation risk.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in the Senate on the 7th that "inflation in the United States, the highest level in 40 years, is at an unacceptable level." "We need appropriate fiscal policy to support the Fed's monetary policy to reduce inflationary pressures without compromising the health of the labor market," he said.
As a countermeasure, Secretary Yellen said, "About a third of US inflation is caused by the supply of vehicles due to a shortage of semiconductors. Many countries are subsidizing semiconductor producers, which is fatal to increasing US production capacity." government support policy response.
In Korea, which is driving growth through government consumption and facility investment, growth in the first quarter of this year is 0.6%, and the Bank of Korea's forecast for this year's growth rate is 2.7% due to the supplementary budget and consumer stimulus.
On the 8th, Hwang Sang-pil, head of the Economic Statistics Bureau of the Bank of Korea, said, "It is analyzed that it is possible to achieve the annual forecast of 2.7% this year if it grows by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter for the remaining quarters. Consumption is expected to continue to recover thanks to the easing of quarantine measures and additional supplementary budgets,” he said.