South Korea’s industrial production jumps to near 3-year high in May

Industrial production in South Korea jumped to near three-year high in May, since 2013, remaining well above market expectations. This came in as the government announced a stimulus package to boost economic growth.

Production grew in May by 4.3 percent year-on-year, from a revised 2.6 per cent fall (previously -2.8 percent) in April, and well ahead of the average of economists’ forecasts of a 0.3 percent rise. It was the fastest pace of growth since January 2013, when production grew 8.7 percent.

The manufacturing, information and communications technology, and automobile sectors delivered growth rates of 4.5 percent, 6.3 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively, all bouncing back from declines in April. Also, production rose by a seasonally-adjusted 2.5 percent m/m, up from a revised 1.2 percent fall in April.

Meanwhile, the government had announced a Won20tn (USD17 billion) stimulus package, including a Won10 trillion supplementary budget, aimed at mitigating possible risks that can arise from last week’s referendum in the United Kingdom where Britons had voted to opt out of the European Union’s membership.