Korea’s exports dropped 4.2 percent from a year earlier in March, following the 0.7 percent and 3.4 percent loss in January and February, respectively, according to data by the central bank last week.
Experts attributed the fall in exports in the first quarter to a combination of a weak Japanese yen, a slower than expected global economic recovery and sliding international crude prices that are reducing profits of the country’s Petrochemical products exporters.
Unfavorable commerce conditions abroad are expected to continue to drag down Korea’s exports in the second quarter. Its leading export index for the April-June period came to 48.5 points, down 3.5 points from the previous quarter, according to a survey by the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency on 2,229 trading company officials and foreign buyers last month.
A reading over 50 signals exports will fare better than the previous quarter, while lower figures indicate overseas shipment will decrease. The latest quarterly figures marked the first time the index fell below the benchmark since the Oct-Dec period of 2009, when KOTRA began to compile it.
Over the past years, exports have made less contribution to Korea’s economic growth. The contribution rate, which surged to 202.7 percent in 2011, slid to 121.7 percent in 2012, 82.7 percent in 2013 and 45.5 percent last year, the lowest in five years, figures from the Bank of Korea showed.
BOK analyst said the drop in exports’ contribution to growth was attributed not only to the sluggish pace of the increase in overseas shipments but to expanding positions of consumption and Investment. Consumer spending and corporate investment contributed 1.3 percentage points and 1.5 percentage points each to Korea’s economic growth last year.
- attribute A to B : A 가 B에 기인하다. A가 B에 속한다..
cf. We attribute Edison's success to intelligence and hard work
- drag down: 끌어내리다, 맥빠지게 하다.
cf. Politicians should not drag businesses down
- leading export index : 수출선행지수
- fare (well, badly, better) : 특정상황에서 잘, 잘못하다.
cf. The party fared very badly in the last election
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