Consumption has dropped by the largest margin in 21 years...Addition of Double High Political/High Exchange Rate

[Anchor]
Last year, the consumption of goods fell by the biggest margin in more than 20 years.

That's how serious the slump in domestic demand was.

In addition to the anxiety and high exchange rate burden caused by the "emergency martial law," the domestic economy is full of dark clouds.

Reporter Oh Dong-gun reports.

[Reporter]
'Retail Sales Index', a representative consumption indicator,

The index fell 2.1% from January to November last year compared to the same period a year ago.

This is the largest in 21 years.

Durable goods, semi-durable goods, and non-durable goods all decreased together for the second year,
It is the first time that the number of goods of the three types
has declined for two consecutive years since the related statistics were compiled in 1995.

On top of that, the aftermath of the "emergency martial law" hit the market.

The consumer sentiment index plunged 12.3P in a month after the emergency martial law.

Compared to the 9.4P drop over three months during the impeachment of former President Park Geun Hye, the drop is much greater.

[Park Jung-hyun / Gwanak-gu, Seoul: (Do political situations affect consumption?) I don't think so....]


High exchange rates are also holding back.

[Kim Kwang-seok / Professor of Hanyang University] If the strong dollar continues, it can act as a pressure to raise consumer prices, so cutting interest rates could be a significant burden in the midst of this. I'll evaluate it.]

In line with the designation of temporary holidays, the government plans to boost domestic demand by providing 90 billion won in discounts, the largest ever.

[Go Hye-jin / Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province: We won't increase our spending as much as possible, but maybe we'll eat more?]

The government also plans to reinforce the economy by executing the available budget as early as possible, but it is unclear whether frozen consumer wallets will be opened.

This is YTN Oh Dong-gun.


Video Edit: Jung Kook-yoon
Design: Kim Hyo-jin