President Lee: “Maximize housing starts ... consider credit and fiscal support”

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung said on the 27th, “We should speed up public projects that are lagging in execution and maximize housing starts as well.”
He made these remarks at a Cabinet meeting he chaired at Cheong Wa Dae that day, saying, “The housing sector is important not only for housing supply itself but also because it can help revive the currently sluggish construction industry. If necessary, I ask you to consider not only national credit support but also fiscal support.”
He also instructed officials to pursue effective measures to reduce living costs and expand consumers’ spending capacity.
President Lee said, “We have made considerable efforts to stabilize prices and have pursued various policies to expand consumers’ spending capacity, but I believe we need to develop and implement bolder policies.” He added, “I would like to say that the government will also bring its capabilities together to boost domestic demand and restore people’s livelihoods in ways they can feel.”
President Lee stressed that the current-account surplus in the second quarter of this year ranked second in the world and urged an all-out effort to improve domestic demand. He said, “South Korea’s current-account surplus in the second quarter of this year ranked second in the world. It was larger than the combined surpluses of Germany and Japan, both global manufacturing powerhouses.” He continued, “It is historic, but we must neither become complacent nor satisfied. It is time to make every effort to improve domestic demand so that this wave of growth can become a great wave that transforms the lives of all our people.”
He added, “I ask the relevant ministries, offices and agencies to focus on implementing measures during the remainder of this year to revitalize regional economies and neighborhood commercial districts, where recovery has been relatively slow.” He continued, “Starting the day after tomorrow, the Korea Grand Festival, a nationwide shopping festival encompassing manufactured goods, agricultural, livestock and fishery products, tourism, and more, will take place. The government should do everything possible to promote the event and provide information so that many of our people can take part and enjoy its benefits.”
He also pointed to low growth as a factor behind the serious social turmoil and conflict accompanying large-scale protests in several European countries recently, and urged officials to take those events as a lesson.
President Lee said, “By the indicators, South Korea’s economy is achieving very impressive results. However, the recovery in people’s livelihoods is still slow, and disparities in income, wealth and jobs remain.” He added, “We must use our expanded fiscal capacity to increase investment in advanced industries, foster domestic demand, and actively deploy policy tools that enable people to feel the recovery in their livelihoods firsthand.”
He continued, “If this establishes a strong foundation for growth, the expansion of the economy will stabilize the debt ratio and strengthen public finances, laying the groundwork for sustainable growth.” He added, “It is very important to examine examples from overseas and draw insights from them.”

[email protected] Choi Jong-geun Reporter