South Korea’s trade surplus hits record high

South Korea’s exports in April have fallen less than expected, while the country’s trade surplus has hit a record high for the second consecutive month, as the cost of imports fell due to the price of oil.

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said today that exports have fallen by 19 percent to $30.67 billion in April, compared to this time last year, although economists had predicted a 23 percent fall.

A further signal that the economy has passed the worst of the global economic downturn comes after South Korea posted a record trade surplus of $6.02 billion.

South Korean exports fell by 34.2 percent in January and 22 percent in March.

In the first quarter, the economy just avoided recession and posted a growth of 0.1 percent as the government introduced stimulus measures in order to avert the problem of falling imports.

Despite this, the economy had contracted 5.1 percent at the end of 2008 and now both the central bank and the government are predicting that the economy will shrink again.

South Korea’s stock market is closed today for a holiday. but the index increased by 14 percent in April.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: South Korea’s trade surplus hits record high