Korea’s finance team marks first anniversary since taking charge

Описание: 유일호 부총리 취임 1년... 성과 및 과제는?
Friday marks one year since Korea's current economic team,... led by Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho... took the helm.
With so many lingering uncertainties,... it's been a difficult time for Yoo's team.
Our Kim Min-ji looks back on their achievements and the challenges ahead.
It's been a turbulent year for Minister Yoo Il-ho's economic team.
Despite starting off with an ambitious goal of attaining growth in the three-percent range, the Korean government has since revised down its growth outlook for 2017 to 2-point-6 percent.
That potentially puts the country's growth in the two-percent range for a third straight year,... and marks the first time the government's outlook has fallen below the three-percent level since the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis in 1999.

When Yoo came into office,... financial markets across the world were in turmoil after the Chinese stock market crashed.
The same month,... North Korea conducted a nuclear test... which eventually led to the closure of the inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong.
Also, low global oil prices took a toll on the country's exports,... while the government's corporate restructuring drive hurt the manufacturing sector,... and household debt hit a record high.
Abroad, there was the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's unexpected win in the U.S. presidential election.

"When his term started, Yoo decided to carry out major reforms in four key sectors of labor, education, finance and the public sector. But he wasn't able to make any major achievements, mainly because economic conditions were off course. The fact that the opposition bloc holds a parliamentary majority has made it even more difficult to push for strong policies."

But most analysts seem to agree that the implementation of a supplementary budget last year was a job relatively well done.
Although it wasn't a major lift,... it was enough to prevent a hard landing.
In addition to that, the ministry also unveiled measures to stabilize the property market... in the face of growing household debt.

Still,... Yoo was often criticized for a lack of leadership and he once faced the prospect of being replaced amid a major cabinet reshuffle.
But after retaining his position, he has been stepping up monitoring efforts in the private sector and is working to foster relations with the incoming Trump administration.

"The economic team needs to be able to manage the risks ahead and prevent any other big problems from arising. Once things settle down, it should alter its current policies so they're better adjusted for the economy."

The year 2017 is packed with many unknowns -- including the potential for more rate hikes in the U.S.,... and political changes in Europe.
And with an early presidential election expected in Korea,... experts say it's not a time to start something new,...
and that the government's role should be to steer the economy through the uncertainties ahead.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.

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