Posted on 10/28/2013 3:26:03 AM PDT by TexGrill
The Financial Services Commission and five financial associations including the Korea Federation of Banks launched a saving campaign in February this year in a bid to increase the household savings rate. The financial authorities, associations and commercial banks together went out to the streets and handed out campaign leaflets as they used to do in the early 1980s. Eight months from the onset of the campaign, the Dong-A Ilbo asked of the campaign to an official from a commercial bank. Disappointedly, he asked back, “Have we run such a campaign?” He even complained that “deposits are not fully welcomed because there are few places to invest in and make profits from.”
Although Monday marks the 50th anniversary of Savings Day, savings are treated as a source of worry even by banks, while Korea’s savings rate (savings to disposable income), one of the world`s lowest-savings rates, doesn’t seem to improve.
According to the Bank of Korea on Sunday, Korea’s household savings rate, which was 24.7 percent in 1988, plummeted to one-digit number (8.6 percent) in 2000 and further declined to 3.4 percent last year. According to the OECD, Korea is ranked 24th in savings rates, lagging behind other OECD members, such as Sweden (12.9 percent), France (12.5 percent), Mexico (10.0 percent) and Chile (7.2 percent).
(Excerpt) Read more at english.donga.com ...
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