Kim Beom-seok, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, "Focus on Supporting Domestic Recovery by Mobilizing All Available Resources"

Concerns Over Livelihood Difficulties Due to Decline in Consumer Sentiment

Kim Beom-seok, the 1st Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, stated on the 26th, "We will fully mobilize all available resources, including government budgets, public institution investments, and policy finance, to focus on supporting domestic demand recovery.

Vice Minister Kim made these remarks while presiding over the 4th Economic and Financial Situation Monitoring TF (Task Force) meeting at the Government Seoul Office on the same day. The meeting was held to review domestic and international financial and foreign exchange market trends and the real economy situation, and to discuss response measures. Attendees included officials from not only the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, but also the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Financial Services Commission, Bank of Korea, and Financial Supervisory Service.

Kim Beom-seok, First Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, is speaking while presiding over the 4th Economic and Financial Situation Inspection Task Force meeting at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 26th. Photo by Ministry of Strategy and Finance

The attendees noted that although disruptions in production and exports have eased following the end of major industry strikes, the Consumer Sentiment Index has declined due to uncertainties stemming from the inauguration of the new U.S. administration and domestic political situations, raising concerns about worsening livelihood difficulties. Accordingly, they agreed to maintain high vigilance by monitoring financial and foreign exchange market trends 24 hours a day and to concentrate all government efforts on restoring livelihoods.

According to the 'December Consumer Sentiment Survey Results' announced by the Bank of Korea on the 24th, the Consumer Confidence Sentiment Index (CCSI) for this month dropped sharply by 12.3 points from the previous month to 88.4. This is the largest decline since March 2020 (-18.3 points) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CCSI also recorded its lowest level since November 2022 (86.6).

Vice Minister Kim said, "Along with the government budget, we have decided to mobilize available resources such as public institution investments and policy finance to focus on supporting domestic demand recovery,” adding, "projects worth 11.6 trillion won, which were allocated before the start of the fiscal year, will quickly implement necessary preliminary procedures such as expenditure-causing acts to enable immediate execution from the beginning of the year."

Vice Minister Kim further stated, "All ministries will actively strive to discover and implement major livelihood projects for rapid budget execution at an unprecedented speed and scale," and explained, "these policy tasks will be promptly materialized and announced through next week’s Economic Policy Direction for the coming year."