Agence France Presse

Seoul, July 4:

The South Korean government outlined new measures today to help spur an economic recovery in the face of concerns that high oil prices will continue to drag down growth.

“Our economic policy will focus on easing restrictions and boosting corporate spending,” finance and economy minister Han Duck-Soo said in policy consultations with ruling Uri Party officials. He said the second quarter growth rate is estimated at three per cent after 2.7 per cent in the first quarter, the slowest pace since the 2003 third quarter. Han promised to increase spending on public works, saying the government would consider a further cut in sales taxes. “There was a consensus that high oil prices, the won’s appreciation and the slowther-than-expected recovery in domestic demand would continue to drag down the economy,” Oh Young-Shik, a ruling party spokesman, said. South Korea has struggled to boost domestic consumption as a way out of a slump caused by the collapse of a credit card bubble. In an effort to get the economy moving, goverment front-loaded its budget spending in the first half of this year, while the central Bank retained its key interest rate at an historic low.