Koo Yoon-chul: "April's Industrial Production Was a Temporary Adjustment... Improvement Trend to Resume This Month"

Emergency Economic Headquarters and Economic and Industrial Competitiveness Ministers' Meeting

Koo Yoon-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, is delivering opening remarks at the 'Emergency Economic Headquarters Meeting, Ministers of Economy Meeting, and Ministers of Ministry-related to Industrial Competitiveness Meeting' held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 29th. Ministry of Strategy and Finance

Koo Yoon-chul, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance, stated, "Last month's decline in industrial production was a temporary adjustment, mainly due to the base effect following a period of high growth."

At the "Emergency Economic Headquarters Meeting and Economic Related Ministers' Meeting" held at the Government Seoul Office on the 29th, Deputy Prime Minister Koo remarked, "In May, both consumption and business sentiment have risen significantly, and strong export momentum continues. Therefore, we expect the trend of improvement to resume."

The Ministry of Data and Statistics announced on this day, in its April Industrial Activity Trend report, that the all-industry production index for the previous month fell by 0.6% compared to the previous month. It appears that Deputy Prime Minister Koo expects the industrial production indicators, which will be announced next month, to show improvement, given the overall economic situation.

Deputy Prime Minister Koo emphasized, "Despite the prolonged war in the Middle East, major institutions are revising their forecasts for our country's growth rate upward this year. The government will do its utmost to minimize the burden on people's livelihoods caused by high oil prices, while also injecting new vitality into every corner of the economy."

During the meeting, the government announced a plan to raise the maximum payment limit for the oil price-linked subsidies provided to farmers and fishermen, in order to alleviate the burden of high oil prices resulting from the war in the Middle East.

Currently, when the price of tax-exempt oil purchased by farmers and fishermen exceeds the reference price, 70% of the excess amount is paid as a price-linked subsidy within the set maximum limit. The government is now increasing this maximum payment limit.

The upper limit for subsidies for diesel used in agricultural, fishery, and forestry machinery will be raised by 37.8 won, from 138.4 won per liter to 176.2 won per liter. For kerosene and heavy oil used for heating horticultural facilities, the maximum support limits will be increased by 39.3 won and 39.4 won, respectively, from 143.9 won to 183.2 won for kerosene and from 144.4 won to 183.8 won for heavy oil.

Deputy Prime Minister Koo also announced, "To stabilize the supply and demand of urea and urea solution, the current ban on hoarding and price manipulation will be extended until July."

Regarding measures to encourage domestic return of overseas companies, Deputy Prime Minister Koo said, "We will improve our support methods to attract large-scale investments, particularly in regional areas. For investment projects with significant economic impact, the government and companies will negotiate the size of the subsidy, and to expedite support, the central government will provide subsidies directly to companies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.