An Apple Pay sticker is displayed on the counter of a restaurant in Seoul, March 20, 2023. Yonhap
Card spending in Korea continued to slide in January as households tightened their purse strings amid an financial slowdown, trade information confirmed Tuesday.
Bank card spending on lodging and eating places, which was hit arduous by impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched martial regulation bid in December, continued to slip, falling 1.8 p.c on-year to 12.27 trillion received ($8.41 billion) in January, based on the info from the Credit score Finance Affiliation.
Card spending for transportation providers additionally dipped 7.6 p.c on-year to 1.65 trillion received, and that for well being care and social welfare providers edged down 1.1 p.c to six.01 trillion received.
Cardholders additionally diminished spending on leisure, sports activities and the humanities by 1.7 p.c to 980 billion received from a 12 months earlier, the info confirmed.
Card spending for academic providers dropped 5.5 p.c on-year to 1.74 trillion received, marking the primary on-year fall since January 2021, when the nation was gripped by the coronavirus.
Korea’s financial system grew 2 p.c final 12 months, accelerating from a 1.4 p.c on-year advance in 2023.
However the nation is going through a number of headwinds as home demand stays within the doldrums and export development has slowed amid heated international competitors and uncertainties stemming from U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff scheme.
The Financial institution of Korea not too long ago revised down its development outlook for the 12 months to 1.5 p.c from its earlier forecast of 1.9 p.c.
The nation’s potential development charge is at 2 p.c, and this 12 months might mark the primary time ever that its yearly development charge falls under the extent. (Yonhap)
