Durable product sales plunge in Nov. amid economic downturn

SEOUL, Jan. 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korean households and companies are scaling down
spending on durable goods as concerns are growing that the economy is slowing at
a faster-than-expected pace, the government said Thursday.
According to the National Statistical Office (NSO), durable product sales plunged
16.3 percent in November from a year earlier. Durable goods refer to high-priced
products such as cars, computers and other equipment that can be used for more
than a year.
The sharp decline stemmed mostly from a drop in vehicle sales. Car sales in
November dived 39.4 percent from a year earlier, the NSO said. Consumers tend to
reduce their spending on expensive goods when the economy is faltering, an NSO
official said.
South Korea is currently struggling to maintain growth in the face of deepening
worldwide recession woes.
The government predicts the economy to grow some 3 percent this year but some
private think tanks say that the Asian export-driven economy could contract for
the first time in 11 years.
In his New Year message, Finance Minister Kang Man-soo said that the economy is
faced with an "unprecedented" crisis, predicting that growth would be "tough" to
maintain until the first half of this year.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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