Choo Kyung-ho "Price Peak at 'Late September to Early October'... Doing Our Best to Stabilize Food Prices"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho predicted on the 25th, "Based on the current trend of oil price movements, the peak of inflation will be after Chuseok, around the end of September, or at the latest, October."

At a press briefing held at the Government Sejong Complex in the afternoon, Deputy Prime Minister Choo said in response to questions about inflation, "There will likely be some upward pressure until the early Chuseok in September." However, he added, "This assumes that oil prices do not surge again due to Russia (Ukraine situation), or that external conditions such as grain supply chain disruptions do not suddenly change drastically," and said, "Unless there are additional worsening variables, the peak will be at the end of the third quarter or the beginning of the fourth quarter."

He continued, "Even now, the public's livelihood is tough, and it will be very difficult because of inflation," adding, "If we endure just 2 to 3 months, the most urgent issue is the price of food and grocery items, and we will do our best to stabilize these." He also said, "The government's inflation stabilization measures, which began to take effect gradually from early July, are expected to make the stabilization of meat prices visible after one to two months," and added, "Vegetables faced supply difficulties due to overlapping monsoon rains, heatwaves, and droughts for a while, but if the harvest returns to normal levels after Chuseok, stability is expected around September to October."

Meanwhile, regarding the public institution innovation promoted by the new government, Deputy Prime Minister Choo announced that the innovation guidelines will be finalized and announced on the 29th. The guidelines will cover five major areas: ▲function adjustment ▲organizational and personnel efficiency ▲budget efficiency ▲sale of unnecessary assets ▲review and adjustment of welfare benefits. Approximately 350 public institutions will establish innovation plans according to these guidelines and must submit them by the end of next month.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "The reform of the public institution management system will strengthen autonomous responsibility for each ministry and agency," and added, "The management evaluation system will also be reformed, including expanding the proportion of financial performance indicators."

In addition, following President Yoon Seok-yeol's directive, the 'Economic Regulatory Innovation Task Force (TF)' will select and announce major regulatory reform tasks on the 28th. Deputy Prime Minister Choo will serve as the government representative and TF leader, and Kim Jong-seok, Distinguished Professor at SUNY Korea (former National Assembly member), has been appointed as the private sector co-leader. The overall head of the TF's working group will be former official Kang Young-chul, former head of the Regulatory Coordination Office at the Office for Government Policy Coordination.