“We will mobilize all policy measures to manage the cost of living as stable as possible.”
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Hong Nam-ki said on the 2nd, “The increase in the consumer price index in November will increase compared to October.”
This means that the consumer price inflation rate in November was higher than 3.2%.
Deputy Prime Minister Hong held a meeting of the Central Emergency Economy Countermeasures Headquarters at the government complex in Seoul on the same day and said this.
Deputy Prime Minister Hong explained, “The rise in oil prices has increased compared to October due to rising prices of restaurants, processed foods, and vegetables.”
However, he said, “Amid global inflation, we are at a low level compared to major countries,” he predicted.
Deputy Prime Minister Hong predicted that “the cumulative inflation rate will be 2.2% by October, which will be similar to the forecasts of the Bank of Korea (2.3%) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD: 2.4%) for the year.”
Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, “We will mobilize all possible policy measures to ensure that the cost of living of ordinary people is managed as stable as possible throughout December.”
In order to quickly reflect the effect of the fuel tax cut, the government has decided to encourage the price reduction of self-owned gas stations and to abolish the current 1km separation distance requirement to expand some thrifty gas stations in some downtown areas.
It was decided to expand the scale of discount coupons for agricultural, livestock, and marine products, to determine the scale of the quota tariff expansion for raw materials whose prices soared in December, and to extend the exemption rate and limit of the tax deduction rate and limit for tax-free agricultural products by two years.
By raising the price trend as a regular agenda item of the main economic meeting, it was decided to focus on price response capabilities until the first half of next year, such as introducing a system responsible for price ministries by sector, and operating the local government’s price task force (TF).
Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, “As seen in the industrial production and investment indicators in October, economic uncertainty has increased due to disruptions in the global supply chain, the spread of coronavirus infection, and concerns about the spread of Omicron mutation. We will do our best to respond to the last-minute response, including enforcement,” he said.
The government also decided to devise a plan to extend the period of reduction of airport facility usage fees and commercial and business facility rental fees to June next year to support the aviation and duty-free industries by six months.
/yunhap news
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