Government, Vice Ministers' Meeting on Economic Affairs and Prices Affairs
Kim Beom-seok, First Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, is attending the Price-Related Vice Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno, Seoul on the 18th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun
Kim Beom-seok, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated, "Since the price burden of vegetables remains high, we will faithfully implement measures to stabilize the supply of kimchi-making ingredients ahead of the kimchi-making season."
On the 5th, the government held the "47th Economic Relations Vice Ministers' Meeting and Price Relations Vice Ministers' Meeting" at the Government Seoul Office, chaired by Vice Minister Kim. At the meeting, Vice Minister Kim forecasted, "Although there will be upward pressure such as a slowdown in the decline of petroleum prices in November, if there are no special external shocks, the inflation rate is expected to remain within 2%."
According to the consumer price trend announced by Statistics Korea on the same day, the consumer price index in October rose by only 1.3% compared to the same month last year, marking the lowest figure since January 2021 (0.9%).
The consumer price inflation rate had stayed in the 2% range for five consecutive months since April this year (2.9%) but clearly slowed down, dropping to the 1% range from September (1.6%).
However, ahead of the kimchi-making season, vegetables such as napa cabbage (51.5%) and radish (52.1%), which are key ingredients for kimchi, showed a sharp increase of over 50%.
Vice Minister Kim said, "We will increase the contract cultivation volume of napa cabbage by 10% compared to last year to supply 24,000 tons, and will flexibly supply 2,000 tons of government stockpiled seasoning vegetables such as chili peppers, garlic, and onions according to supply conditions."
The government is currently providing up to a 40% discount on napa cabbage and radish, and plans to offer up to a 50% discount in November on green onions, garlic, solar salt, and salted seafood to reduce consumer burdens.
Vice Minister Kim added, "In line with the two-month extension of the temporary fuel tax reduction, we will also extend the diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel price-linked subsidies for buses, taxis, freight trucks, and coastal cargo ships for an additional two months until December to ease fuel cost burdens."
At the meeting, measures to support the development of wedding services, the current status of efforts to stabilize construction costs, comprehensive measures for small business owners, and supplementary plans were also discussed.
Vice Minister Kim mentioned, "The cost of wedding services is a burden for young people, and especially, consumers suffer damages due to additional charges being imposed without prior notice or insufficient explanations regarding refund and penalty fee criteria," adding, "We will announce measures to improve transaction practices in the wedding service market through the Economic Relations Ministers' Meeting."
He also evaluated, "The construction cost index increase rate this year was 1.3% until September, showing the most stable trend since 2020. Although it rose by 0.56% compared to the previous month in September, excluding labor costs, it has been on a downward stabilization trend for four consecutive months."
He emphasized, "We will faithfully implement follow-up measures for construction cost stabilization and complete the plan to reflect realistic public construction costs within this year."
Finally, he stated, "We will prepare additional support measures for small business owners next month to accelerate financial support and debt restructuring and improve the system to activate the use of Onnuri gift certificates."
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