[Economic Outlook] 4th Disaster Relief Fund Announced... January Industry Trends for Lodging and Restaurants Released

Export Boom Acts as a Catalyst for Economic Recovery... 16.7% Increase from February 1-20

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the political sphere has started to reopen discussions on providing 'disaster relief funds to all citizens.' On the 7th, Tongin Market in Jongno-gu, Seoul, was quiet. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government will announce a supplementary budget (supplementary budget) including the 4th disaster relief fund. The industrial activity trend for January, reflecting the impact of the 3rd wave of COVID-19, will also be released. The industrial activity trend is a comprehensive indicator diagnosing Korea's real economy.

The Democratic Party of Korea and the government will hold a high-level party-government meeting on the 28th regarding the payment of disaster relief funds and the supplementary budget formulation. It will be approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 2nd of next month and submitted to the National Assembly on the 4th, after which the ruling and opposition parties will begin full-scale discussions. The Prime Minister will deliver a policy speech on the 5th, requesting cooperation from the political circles.

The Democratic Party has stated that the scale of the disaster relief fund is '19.5 trillion won + α.'

The supplementary budget plan to be announced by the government on the 2nd of next month is expected to include additional budgets necessary for focused support for affected groups such as small business owners and self-employed due to the prolonged COVID-19 quarantine, job measures responding to employment shocks, and quarantine measures including vaccine procurement and inoculation.

President Moon Jae-in has requested that the execution of the disaster relief fund begin as soon as possible within next month.

The Statistics Korea will announce the January industrial activity trend on the 2nd.

In December last year, due to the impact of 'social distancing,' the industrial production index of accommodation and food services such as restaurants and pubs decreased by as much as 27.3% compared to the previous month. Accordingly, the service industry production index fell by 1.1%.

However, production, consumption, and investment all showed an increasing trend simultaneously, and with continued export strength, there is a possibility that the industrial production index will rebound.

According to the Korea Customs Service, the provisional export amount from the 1st to the 20th of this month was $30.4 billion, an increase of 16.7% ($4.36 billion) compared to the same period last year.