The rising exchange rate has deepened the public's anxiety...Concerns over cooling consumption

[Anchor]
As the won-dollar exchange rate continues to rise amid the impeachment, prices are rising one after another, especially for beverage products that rely on imports for raw materials.

Consumer sentiment is getting colder as winter fruit prices rise due to sluggish crops caused by abnormal climate.

Reporter Oh Dong-gun covered it.

[Reporter]
These are convenience store products whose prices will rise from next year.

Beverages such as Pocari Sweat rise 6.3% on average,

Stick coffees have been increased by 9.5%.

As raw material prices rose and the exchange rate continued to rise, companies using imported materials could not withstand it.

[Industry official: A 5% increase in the exchange rate would equal a 5% increase in the purchase price of raw materials...]

On top of that, the won-dollar exchange rate has soared in two weeks since the declaration of the emergency martial law, adding to the burden.

In addition to processed foods affected by exchange rates, winter fruit prices, which have been sluggish due to abnormal weather, are also fluctuating.

Citrus and strawberries rose 47% and 24% compared to the average year, respectively.

Consumer sentiment is rapidly freezing as red lights turn on at the water's edge.

According to a survey by the Korea Businessmen's Association, 53.0% of the respondents said they would "reduce consumer spending next year."

[Lee Yoon-seo / Sadang-dong, Seoul: I'm very worried. Since the exchange rate is also rising, this is real food for ordinary people, especially fruits.]

As a result, the government has decided to continue supporting food tariffs and discounts next year.

[Kim Beom-seok / First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance: We will cut tariffs of about 330 billion won by applying allocation tariffs on a total of 30 types of major food ingredients and feed ingredients, and invest about 200 billion won to support discounts on agricultural and fishery products.]

However, it is unclear whether consumer sentiment will recover easily due to uncertainties in international oil prices and political instability.

This is YTN Oh Dong-gun.



a photographer
Design;Park Yoo-dong, Jung Eun-ok