South Korea's exports are expected to expand about 3 percent on-year in the
second quarter on the back of improving internal and external economic
indicators, a state-run trade bank said Tuesday.
The forecast by the
Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) is based on its leading index for the
country's overseas shipments, which reflects economic conditions of importing
countries and export price levels of local goods.
The trade bank said
the export gauge reached 112 for the April-June period, up 0.6 percent from 99
in the previous quarter, recovering from the consecutive decline in the past two
quarters. A higher number indicates stronger exports.
"The index gained on
optimistic signs from the Unites States, Japan and other advanced economies,
despite the economic slowdown in developing countries such as Brazil, Russia,
India and China," Eximbank said.
It also got a boost from a rosy
earnings outlook for the information technology industry, including the
semiconductor sector, it added.
The bank expected the profitability of
South Korean exporters to improve in the current quarter due to the depreciation
of the Korean won and stabilizing raw material costs. A weaker won makes South
Korean exports cheaper in overseas markets.
The country's exports are
estimated to have expanded 3 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from a year
earlier, according to Eximbank.
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